What do 1st yrs need to know before coming down? Where to start....
First of all, I want to say that I am very excited for the first years. They are about to get rocked!! (in a good way, of course!) MTC has been a wonderful experience for me so far, and I am going to try to give some suggestions that will help the first years think the same:
- MEET PEOPLE - the way MTC is set up, you have the opportunity to meet a lot of people around your same age, education level, and that have at least some similar interests. You get to spend the summer with them and they will be your biggest allies when the year gets started. Creating a support system for yourself (and tapping into the ones you already have in place) is key. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Things will happen to you that you can't believe have ever happened before, but I guarantee they have happened to someone in the program. ASK, LISTEN, TALK, MAKE FRIENDS......
- ENJOY SUMMER - summer is AWESOME. It is busy, and sometimes you may think you couldn't possibly be more tired. Believe me, you can be, and you will be. Get out and play frisbee or BEACH VOLLEYBALL and have fun!!
- TAKE BREAKS - During the year, it is very important to take mental-health days. Take a day off and use it for YOU. Go visit a friend, go check out the Delta or Tunica or Memphis. Go shopping. Do something different from school. Teaching is a 24/7 job. Every now and then, you need to take a break and remind yourself that teaching isn't ALL you do! (My principal says "sick" days can be used if you are just "sick of the kids"...I agree)
- KEEP AN OPEN MIND - Don't come into this thinking you know the way things need to be done. Try new approaches, try suggestions, and keep an open mind as much as possible. Being willing to change things that aren't working is crucial to success, especially in this profession. Also, don't be too hard on yourself. A lot of people that get into this program have never had to deal with a challenge like the one they are about to encounter, and you will make mistakes. You will get tired, and you will feel like you aren't making the difference you set out to make. Remember that things can and will get better (if you're willing to try new things), you ARE making a difference, and you are here for a reason. Enjoy it and TALK TO SOMEONE (a 2nd year, your mentor, Ben, Ann, SOMEONE) if you are having a bad day.
- GET INVOLVED - I coached all three main seasons in the year. I coached two sports I have very little experience in and one that I have a ton of experience in. All three seasons were SO much fun and made me love my job even more. It is so awesome to get to know some of the students outside the classroom, and it kept me sane when I thought all I was doing was classwork. If you're not into sports, help out with a club or drama or start something. It is helpful for you AND the kids - they need and want things to be involved in. Even if you think it will take up too much time, try it. Yes, you have very little time as it is, but it really helped me out so much.
- STAY ON TOP OF TASKS - When stuff gets backed up and you feel like you're buried under paperwork, it is much easier to get stressed and feel like all you do is teach, grade, lesson plan..... Find a way to maximize your time and DELEGATE responsibilities whenever possible. I didn't learn this one until the middle of the year, but it helps so much! Why do everything yourself when there are people willing to help! (Be careful with which tasks you delegate, though...some things shouldn't be out of your hands and/or will not be done with high quality...stick to handing out the menial tasks that just take time!)
- SMILE
According to Hooper and Reiber, educational technology can often be misunderstood and misconstrued in a classroom. The purpose of educational technology is to place the student at the center of learning; the student “becomes the subject rather than the object of education.” We have talked in class in many different ways about how children learn the best when they are doing a majority of the work, rather than the teacher. The type of teaching that supports this model the best is one where the teacher does all their work ahead of time, preparing the lesson and searching out programs and websites for their students, and the students do all the work and exploration during class.
Cognitive tools support Hooper and Reiber's model of educational technology because they can be used to advance the learning of the student in less time. The student can become familiar with and use these tools to do all the mindless tasks for them. They do not have to waste their time with basic set-up tasks, and they can spend their time learning and exploring. They also get to take learning at their own speed.
There are many ways that this model could be used in a classroom for a lesson, and there would be many benefits of doing so. If you have not yet reached the evolution stage (which none of us have), and are faced with trying to overcome the deficit of technology in a classroom, chances are the students would welcome some variety in the instruction. This model also gives them more opportunity to get hands-on work and to have their own successes to be proud of. An example of a lesson that I designed with this model in mind was the lesson I did on transformations. It required the use of our computer lab for two days (could have been longer), and some preparation on my part of the sites used. The students were paired up with the task of completing several different transformations on a virtual geoboard. The computer programs used provided the questions for learning and reflection and allowed maximum time for the students to be thinking. They did not have to put together geoboards to create the transformations, and they were able to complete the lessons on their own time. This is a major benefit of Hooper and Reiber's model of educational technology.
II.
Educational technology is making its way into the K-12 classroom and succeeding because it is so important in today's society. You could be a very intelligent person and be under qualified for a job if you are unable to perform basic to complex skills on a computer. For a child to learn and use these skills on a regular basis early on, they will have more marketability in the job market later on in life. Schools are integrating technology slowly but surely in Mississippi. My school has spent quite a bit of money on technology this year, and it seems to be helping some students that may otherwise have trouble in a classroom.
One reason that educational technology is failing in classrooms is because a lack of knowledege about some of the programs available and, a lot of times, a lack of money and existence of technology. When plenty of technology is present, I think it can fail because of overuse or inappropriate usage of it. Teachers may use it as a copout or a babysitter for their students and not monitor that it is being used for the right reasons.
In my particular classroom, very little would have to change in the big picture to reach the type of success with educational technology that Hooper and Reiber are talking about. As it is, I would say my classroom is at the integration level, and at times approaching the reorientation level. My students have access to calculators, graphing and scientific, and computers on a daily basis. I have access to all of those, projectors, a digital document viewer, a mimio, and more. I consider myself very lucky to have all of these tools available to me, but I think sometimes I have so many to choose from that I do not utilize all of them to their fullest potential. Some lessons could be enhanced with the use of a particular technology, and I may not even think of it because I have gotten in the habit of using another one. I think it will be much easier for me to adequately plan for lessons using all my technology and tools next year having a year of experience to draw back on.
So much has happened since the last time I blogged that I don't even know where to start!
First of all, time is flying! It really doesn't feel like that long ago that I was home for Christmas, and now there are less than three weeks left in the 3rd 9 weeks! While this is exciting, it also gives a sense of urgency for how much ground I have yet to cover in my classes. They will take the state tests in May, which help determine the level of our school for next year and are supposed to be much harder this year. Following a poor performance from last year and several different curriculum changes due to my curriculum instructor and school district, I am mostly nervous for my eighth graders. They are very behind in basic math skills and do not take tests well....but I am just going to use my sense of urgency to hopefully benefit my classes and push them forward.
One of the most exciting things that has happened since Christmas was with my Jr. High basketball team. We had had a great season (we were 14-2) and entered the conference tournament expecting to meet the only team that had beaten us this year in the championship. We did, and we OWNED them!!!! It was such a sweet game, we won 30-17, and the girls were so excited!! (Who am I kidding? I was going nuts too!!!!) They were so cute - they wanted to douse me with gatorade but they didn't have any so they dumped whatever was left in their waterbottles on me in our locker room celebration :) Apparently, we were the first junior high team to ever win the conference tournament! We made history!! We also got a HUGE trophy, an article and picture in the paper, AND I got named district coach of the year!!!!
My high school team is also doing very well! Boys and girls just won districts last week and have the North Half tournament starting tonight and tomorrow...could mean a nice trip to Jackson!!!
A couple weeks ago, my parents got to come down to see my school and house and everything. They LOVED being down here and were excited to get to see me teach and meet some of my students and players! My kids also were SOOOO excited to meet them and would run up to meet them and give them hugs and ask tons of questions! My dad ate it up! He couldn't believe how polite they were and how excited they were to meet them! He said that never would have happened if I had been teaching at the public middle school where I'm from...which is true! I love my kids.
While my parents were here, we got a chance to go to Memphis, Oxford, my school, and Holly Springs. I love how close I am to all those fun places - so much culture down here! Graceland, Too is such a trip! If you haven't been - you need to go!
Also in the news, fast-pitch softball about to start - yikes!!! I know even less about that than slow pitch! Luckily, I have an assistant again, but I don't know how much justice I'm going to be able to do for the girls! Any ideas - send em my way!!
One of my students wrote an essay about me in her English class that the teacher shared with me. Some parts of the essay that made me smile:
"My least favorite subject is math, but I have the coolest teacher, Ms. Hall! She has us play games, but of course they have to do with math. I've never understood math before Ms. Hall taught it to me...........I hope Ms. Hall is still here when I have kids so she can teach them math too...............Here is a joke her Grandpa sent to us: 'Knock, knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad Ms. Hall is your teacher?' And you know what? I AM!!"
HOW SWEET!!!!!!!
We won our basketball game by 58 points last night.
We also scored 58 points.
Yes, that's right. We won 58-0!!!!!
Those are partly exclamation points for excitement and partly for sheer amazement that it is possible for a team to not score at all in one full game...
That is definitely not your typical basketball score!
I PROMISE I was trying not to run up the score! Yes, my starters played some in the 4th quarter, but they were trying out defenses and offenses they have never run before in a game...didn't matter.
I had my bench in a lot of the game too!! Didn't matter either! My whole team was playing GREAT (and they are already good on an off-day!)
I told them before the game that I didnt' want a repeat of the last time we played this team...last time they kind of just expected the team to roll over for them and did not come out ready to play. Apparently that little speech pumped them up to no end, because they came READY!!!
I do feel a little bad - that is an embarrassing loss...and then again, it was pretty fun and my girls really played well AS A TEAM which I don't always see :)
]]>I have had more success stories than failure stories, in general...
One recent success story:
There was a girl in my 3rd period class (seventh grade) that was trouble. She had moved here from Florida the second week of school and had an ATTITUDE. She is white, which I think is where a lot of the peer clashes come from, but she was always trying to start messes with other students and got suspended for fighting fairly early on in the year. She also had a TERRIBLE attitude in my class. She would sit and pout or glare or write on my desks and never really did any work.
This quarter, something changed. I had talked to her a little bit before about trying to pick up her grade (she failed the first 9 weeks miserably), but I didn't think anything would change her. Suddenly, she started coming to class on time and getting to work right away. She also began to participate in class, handed in every homework assignment and scored in the high 80s on the first test she took this quarter. I was so proud of her! (I was also quite surprised!) I wrote a note home for her to take to her parents about how outstanding she had been doing in my class because I'm pretty sure they RARELY hear anything positive about her. When I handed her the note to bring home, she looked a little nervous. I told her to take it to her parents and that she may read it if she wanted to. At the end of class, she came up to me to hand something in and was smiling SO BIG. I asked if she had read the note and she nodded and kept smiling. I told her I was so impressed with how she's been doing and she thanked me and left.
Then it came time to pick student of the month. I thought she would make a great candidate. After all, she was one of few students that had turned in every homework assignment we've had, AND she had a great attitude in class every day! So I picked her. The day I meant to announce it to the class, I didn't quite get around to it and had to pull her aside to give it to her later. Again, she looked so surprised and HAPPY about it! I just loved seeing her expression!! I also couldn't wait to see how her progress kept up this 9 weeks with her new attitude and hoped these rewards would keep her attitude up.
It really seemed like it would..........
..........and now she's suspended for fighting. I still count this as a success story. The fight didn't occur in my room or anything, and I guess I can't expect her to have COMPLETELY changed...I'm just hoping she comes back and can catch up quickly and doesn't get frustrated! I laughed today because my "starting five" student (student of the month) for my 3rd period class was supposed to help me out, and she was suspended. HAHAHA. GREAT example!
Other smaller, but very important successes that I have done recently....
I learned to:
TAKE A DAY OFF (It just feels sooo good!)
and
DELEGATE. There are plenty of people (students, parents, etc) that are more than willing to help you with small tasks and it helps SO MUCH. I still need to do this more, but in giving my students more responsibility, we both win! They love it and learn at the same time, and I don't have as much on my plate to do every day!
:)
]]>There are a few pieces of advice I would give to a new teacher coming in to a new school...one of those being GET INVOLVED.
I think part of the reason I'm having such a positive experience is because I got involved in extracurricular activities right away at my school. I was coaching softball right away from the time I got to my school, and now I'm full swing into basketball. It is SO NICE to have something to go to after school that isn't directly related to the classroom. It is a great reprieve from the typical day because even though you're still in charge of students, they are not confined to a classroom and they are doing something they love!
Being out on the field or the court with my students is also nice because I get to interact with them on such a different level. A lot of them act very differently after school than at school, and it is really fun to see them open up and be able to joke around with them a little bit. It's also nice to be able to have more of a personal impact on the girls. I think more life-lessons can be taught from a coaching perspective than in a classroom.
I have definitely had many memorable moments with my players that I'll never forget!
It has also been nice to be involved for the sake of getting to know parents and other faculty members. I have met so many more parents, faculty, and staff members because of being a part of extracurricular activities. ALL of the teachers and students know me because I can be seen outside of the classroom. I think I've earned a certain amount of respect for being around outside of school for different activities. I wouldn't have it any other way, though. I need it, and I LOVE IT!!!
I LOVED the idea of the post of what my students do to make me laugh. Unfortunately, whenever I sit down to write this blog, I can't think of something specific that they do....
I'm going to write a couple that come to mind right now, and hopefully I can just keep adding to it.
My kids make me laugh almost every day at some point. They are FUNNY!!!!
One thing that is really simple that makes me chuckle is their response to things. As I write homework up on the board, an exasperated voice from the back of the room says, 'Oh LAWD!!!' (I don't know if I did justice to that...it is their version of Oh Lord, just drawn out and very emotionally expressive!)
Another thing they do is dance. They dance everywhere. They dance up to the front of the room if they have to come to the board for things. They dance back to their seats. They dance in their seats. If they aren't dancing physically, they probably are in their head. They have rhythm, and they CAN dance!!! I love it, and it makes me laugh too:)
Also, because they are middle schoolers, there are a lot of things that make me laugh about how important they think some things are. Mostly I mean interpersonal things and relationships they have. Middle schoolers are just funny in general.
Like I said, not enough specifics, but I'm sure my kids will make me laugh at some point tomorrow and the next day and the next.......and I'll try to write some of them down!
I think my classroom management is getting better in some classes and worse in others. I thought maybe looking back on my classroom management plan for this assignment might help me figure out why...
Here are some observations I made looking back on my plan from this summer:
- First, I think my definition and philosophy of classroom management hit pretty head on. I still very much agree that the goal of classroom management is to create a positive learning environment with as few interruptions as possible. I realize this the most when I'm in a classroom where there is NOT enough learning going on because of the interruptions. My philosophy on the importance of consistency and communication is still very important to me, but I think I could do a better job of keeping this up in my classroom.
- I think my rewards system has been working out REALLY well. Middle school students respond incredibly well to rewards, and it works really well for both for positive and negative reinforcement because they do NOT want the rewards taken away from them.
- My consequences need another step. I am incorporating writing assignments into my consequences starting tomorrow. I have given out too many warnings and not followed up to the next step all the time. A lot of that has to do with what my next step is. My consequence list reads:
Warning......Conference Outside......Detention/Phone Call Home......Office.
I haven't made enough phone calls home, and our school doesn't have detention. I need something else!
In general:
I think my classroom management was going really well until last week or the week before. I missed a couple days for workshops, and I think I didn't come back strong enough - I was just excited to see my kids!
Today I gave a quiz to my 5th period class (my repeaters) that I'm hoping will be effective. I told them that since they weren't listening to me that they must know everything I was about to go over with them and they must be ready for a test! The ones who were talking the most did terribly I'm sure, and I'm hoping they use that low test grade as a reason to stay quiet.
...as far as finding out what might be making the differences in my success in the classroom, I don't think I found a definitive reason, but I do want to reestablish structure in my classroom. I agree with what I said this summer about the structure, communication, and consistency being the most important aspects of classroom management, and I think that is the area I can make stronger in ALL classes.
I had a major feel-good moment today :)
One of my softball girls wrote an essay about me for her English class. She (we'll call her M) and another one of my players (P) come into my classroom every morning before school to hang out and sometimes for help on homework.
Today, P said, "Coach Hall, M wrote an essay about you. It says all types of bad stuff about you. You should read it."
I knew she was joking, and I smiled and asked M if I could read it. She blushed but excitedly got it out of her backpack.
The prompt for the essay: "Write about your role model"
....and she wrote about ME!!!....
Her essay was soooo sweet and made me really happy. It was awesome to see some of the little things she picked out that I do that she admired. She stretched the truth a tad about what she comes into my room for, saying I help her with ACT stuff (and not the typical gabbing-session about the Hills or The Game)......but hopefully eventually that's what it will be for! What's even better - it was a well-written essay!