PhyreBards

Well, I think it goes without thinking that I need to post about the Conference. Jillian and I started our adventure at 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte just in time to check in, go to the bathroom, and take an exploratory lap before meeting up with Megan for our first session. The first session was on co-teaching and it was just OK for me. The presentation was an overview of the co-teaching model and wasn’t too organized. I guess that it served as a good warm up for my first conference presentation. Session Two was my favorite. I went to a presentation on alternative assessments, particularly multi-genre projects. The presenter was young and full of energy. She was someone that I could really connect with and her material was extremely relevant and I could see myself using these projects in my classroom.
Next came lunch and a reunion with the rest of the group. The meal was decent and we got to hear from some award-winning teachers. It’s a little humbling to be surrounded by so many greats in your future profession. My final session after lunch was more project-based learning. We were overwhelmed by the amount of creative project ideas that were presented to us. After a wild day, Jillian and I hit the road. I was ready to get out of my teacher clothes by this point.

The conference was a great learning experience for me. I am interested in seeing what other opportunities are out there for professional development.

This book is the moving autobiography of a young Chinese girl, Adeline Yen Mah. Born the fifth child to an affluent Chinese family, her life begins tragically. Adeline’s mother died shortly after her birth due to complications brought on by the delivery. Adeline's family labels her "bad luck," causing her to grow up with the guilt that she alone is responsible for her mother's death. This situation is compounded by her father’s new marriage to a lady who has little affection for her husband’s five children. She displayed overt antagonism and distrust towards all of the children, particularly Adeline, while favoring her own younger son and daughter born soon after the marriage. She is denied carfare, frequently forgotten at school at the end of the day, and whipped for daring to attend a classmate's birthday party against Niang's (her stepmother) wishes. The book outlines Adeline’s struggle to find a place where she feels she belongs. Denied love from her parents, she finds some solace in relationships with her grandfather Ye Ye, and her Aunt Baba, but they are taken from her. Adeline immerses herself in striving for academic achievement in the hope of winning favor, but also for its own rewards as she finds great pleasure in words and scholarly success. Even though Wu Mei is repeatedly moved up to grades above those of her peers, it is only when she wins an international play-writing contest in high school that her father finally takes notice and grants her wish to attend college in England. Despite her parent's heartbreaking neglect, she eventually becomes a doctor and realizes her dream of being a writer.

This memoir asks readers to think about the powerful themes of courage, family and relationships, loneliness and abandonment, and self-esteem. Other concepts to challenge the students are friends versus enemies, challenges and triumphs, war and peace, the strength of the individual in society, and the question of right versus wrong. Through Adeline Yen Mah's story, readers will witness the harsh realities of abuse and realize that there is hope even in situations that seem to have no good outcome.

Teens, with their passionate convictions and strong sense of fair play, will be immediately enveloped in the gross injustice of Adeline Yen Mah's story. Included in the book is a complete glossary, historical notes on the state of Chinese society and politics during Yen Mah's childhood, and the legend of the original Chinese Cinderella which all help to bring about this stirring testimony to the strength of human character and the power of education. This is a great book to use in an interdisciplinary unit with Social Studies because there is so much to learn about Chinese Culture as you read this text. I thought this book would be difficult to handle for the students, depending on their maturity level, because it deals with a lot of emotions that they may not be able to understand. However, I think it is a very good way to expose the students to this kind of culture and show them the history of China. I think that it brings history to life and to a level that it can be appreciated by readers because it is the true story of the author.

Wow, so I love how no matter what I do, I still can't find time to make these posts. I hate these postings...I just wrote a whole big long post about biased testing and somehow it didn't work. Ok so here is my post all over again. At my school on Thursday, Mrs. Cooley brought in the writing prompt for the practice writing test on Friday. The prompt was: Write about your favorite vacation spot. I thought the prompt seemed pretty easy and normal but then Mrs. Cooley brought to my attention the fact that some students don't have a favorite vacation spot because they can't afford to take a vacation. I asked Mrs. Cooley if those students could write about a place that they would like to go and she said that it can be tricky. She recalled a student from a previous year when the writing prompt was similar and the student (being creative)wrote about a vacation to the moon. It was very descriptive and well written but they scored it a zero or non-scorable because he had never been to the moon. It almost seems like we are setting the children up to fail. It was certainly eye opening for me, and something I will keep in mind when I am creating tests.

Today's discussion on media in the classroom was interesting. I am glad that we talked about how movies, music, and art can all be integrated into the classroom. I think that we get hung up on what is "appropriate" or what movies we show, and what songs we use as being cannon literature. Using these art forms can not only engage the students but also give them an avenue for analysis in which they are comfortable. We talk a lot about using literature that our students can connect to because then they can see themselves in it, thus giving them more incentive to actually read the material. So why not use a medium that the students are successful in as a connection between English Literature and popular culture? Do we care more about the content that the process of analyzing literaure or speaking in depthly about themes that are relevant in many avenues? What is the purpose of what we are supposed to be teaching? I think it is really cool to use different methods in the classroom to reach your students with the content. Students get bored and detatched if you do the same thing over and over. Why not surprise your students by forcing them to look at things differently that are looked at in one way previously? I think giving them different mediums also gives them different ways to see success in their own understanding.

Summary:
Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Transylvania, and his narrative Night describes his experience as a Jewish teenager in the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Buchenwald. His narration begins with his experience as a student of the Torah and Kabbalah under the guidance of Moishe the Beadle. His studies are cut short when Moishe is deported but miraculously survives a mass massacre executed by the Gestapo. When Moishe returns to Sighet to tell his story and warn the other Jewish people of the city, he is dismissed as a lunatic and the Jewish people ignore his warnings and continue to live unaware and in denial of the imminent dangers.

In the spring of 1944, the Nazis occupy Hungary, and Elie’s city experiences an increase in the repressive measures against the people of the Jewish culture. Elie then continues on to describe his experience as the Jews of Sighet are forced into small ghettos before being herded into cattle cars and taken away to concentration camps. This heart-wrenching account goes on to detail specific experiences in the camp, the separation and death of his family members, the loss of innocence, the loss of identity, and the disillusionment of faith. Elie’s testimony ultimately provides an unforgettable personal account of the journey and experiences of the Jewish prisoners in concentration camps and the identity crisis and personal development that inherently occurs.

Possible Classroom Uses:
This book would be a great choice for a classroom because you can take it in so many different directions and use it to fulfill different purposes. Analysis could be approached from a biographical or historical perspective and could be used while students are discussing the Holocaust in their history courses (if not the Holocaust, then other events related to mistreatment and oppression of a targeted culture or during discussion of world religions). The text could be used to open a discussion on the importance of cultural awareness, racism, and cultural tolerance, considering that at the most basic level, the Holocaust was partly a result of one culture’s racism and complete lack of cultural tolerance. This book is also unique because it clearly identifies the Jewish people as a culture; usually we are quick to address issues of race and ethnicity when we discuss cultural awareness rather than peoples of a religious affiliation. Or, the text could be used to complement a writing unit on personal narratives. A teacher could choose to focus on general themes such as the disillusionment of faith or the loss of innocence and pair the text with pieces that have similar overarching themes.

I forgot to post last week, so there will be two posts from me this week. I don't know if any of you are feeling the same way as I am, but there is never enough time in a day/week/month/year. It is already almost November, there is about 3 weeks until Thanksgiving break and even less than that until we begin teaching our units. Not to mention, that once this semester is over we are basically done with traditional college classes. The fact that in a matter of months I will be student teaching scares me immensly. Don't get me wrong, I feel that the middle school program here has really prepared me to be comfortable in the classroom with three semesters of practicums that involve teaching a unit, and many other classes that have had both theory and method. I guess I'm just not ready to grow up yet. I don't want to be out in the real world and I don't want to have to find a job (yikes!). Does anyone else feel overwhelmed at this idea? How do we make the transition from a student to a teacher? How do we make the most of the time we have left?

I am required in another class to monitor a target student throughout the semester and track his progress and setbacks within the classroom. 'T' is my student and he has severe ADHD. He is a classic case that can be easily recognized by someone who may not even know the symptoms. He is very immature (even talks in a baby voice a lot of the time), is distracted very easily, and cannot sit in the same position for longer than three minutes. He is notices everything that is going on in the classroom and will often chime into conversations that are going on in a completely different section of the classroom. Every day he comes in and asks to go and get a drink of water because he cannot contain his energy after lunch. The other students recognize that he has some type of disability and do pick on him a lot, especially the other males in the class. T is also the most generous and motivated student in the class. The guys that call him gay are the same students that he lends his index cards to for vocabulary exercises. He easily forgives, is constantly asking questions, and providing input.

I really believe that his comfort in the classroom is heavily dependent on Ms. Rogers. When T is beginning to distract other students, she says his name a lot rather than reprimanding him. She allows him to get water, go to the bathroom, and even walk around the classroom if she sees that he needs to release energy. He also sits in the very front of the room, facing her and the board. She is great at accommodating him and making him feel like a crucial part of the class (which he is!), despite his differences.

Fallen Angels was published in 1988 by Walter Dean Myers. It is a sort of coming of age story that follows the protagonist Perry on his journey to and from Vietnam and his combat action in the war. Perry leaves behind his brother and mother in New York City to go in fight for the United States in Vietnam. Perry quickly befriends other members of his platoon and these men soon become his hope in returning home alive. Perry and his comrades are fighting daily against the Vietcong and quickly this war of attrition becomes a battle of survival. Throughout the war each man questions his intentions and reasons for joining the army and the reason for fighting. Perry and his best friend Pewee are forced to grow up and mature while watching others die around them. They are frequently trapped out in a battlefield starring into the face of the enemy and wondering how much longer they have to live. Many close encounters with the Vietnamese soldiers force Perry to consider what he is made of and what he stands for in this war. He is a dynamic character experiences a shift in beliefs by the end of the novel. The comradeship between Pewee and Perry and the rest of the men in their platoon proves to be stronger than the evils of war.

Major themes of loss and the futility of war are repeated throughout the text. This may be a good work to pair with a joint assignment in a history class. It would be easy to team teach a unit on the Vietnam War with this book and the history teacher. Fallen Angels could also be used to discuss the power of first person point of view. The way that Myers sets up Perry as the narrator makes the book’s message and story even more powerful and captivating. Students could explore other texts in first person point of view and how the Vietnam War hits closer to home through this narrating technique.

This book would be a good choice for my classroom in the future because of the scope of material that it covers. The novel displays and demonstrates many literary techniques including a unique style and point of view along with various literary terms such as syntax and metaphor. I also think that this text is able to easily capture and engage the attention of high schoolers because of the diversity of the characters and story and the engrossing plot lines. The main characters are all African American and are fighting in Vietnam. This spectrum of diversity can reflect the personalities and histories of most students. With that being said, Fallen Angels does contain some mature words and issues. The characters frequently use cuss words including “nigger” and “faggot”. There are also some delicate topics discussed. I would suggest sending home a permission slip with to the parents or having a talk with the students before beginning the book that they need to remain mature while reading it and understand how and why the author uses the strong language and themes.

I have honors kids in the class I go to on a regular basis. They sit. They listen. They absorb everything my teacher tells them. When I talk, they absorb everything I tell them. They accept challenging topics and when asked to ask questions, one boy on the right-hand side of the room will ask an intellectual question that requires more detail than we intended for the subject.

But they don't talk. They don't discuss. They don't volunteer to read things. I think it's partly a habit they've learned from years of honors classes. Mr. Meacham said it's because they're scared of being wrong. And that makes them scared to discuss and scared to ask questions, for fear of being seen as stupid.

BUT today I went to Techniques of Writing class. (This group of kids will be in MY class next semester for English 2 CP.) Now they talked. They talked and talked and talked. They asked questions (not on topic, necessarily). They made comments (also not on topic). But they spoke their minds. I learned much more about the students in that class listening to them talk than I've learned about my honors kids over the last month. And I like it.

My 5 lessons are going to be in the middle of my class' Jurassic Park Unit. Yippee... I mean really, Jurassic Park? I guess it works and maybe because there is a movie about it, the students are more prone to read and add to the discussion? Luckily, I was there the day that my teacher began the unit and I could get information about where she was headed in terms of assignments. I am unclear on the themes and items that she is going to focus on other than just reading for comprehension. I guess that is something I can ask her as I start to plan my lessons since they are coming up soon! Do you guys have any cool ideas on what I can do about Jurassic Park? Maybe some Peer-Response journals in terms of ethics and science? I started to read the book, and it is actually a pretty easy read even though it is kind of gory. But I guess that will keep some of the guy's attention..not to stereotype or anything.

I have a question about the role of religion that this book could bring up if I did go in the direction of talking about ethics. What are the things you can and can't say in terms of religion and christianity. What if the student's take it there? Do I have to end that conversation if it is going well? I think this a pretty interesting topic and it does relate to all of us in any kind of discussion based on a text that is in a way controversial.

Ok, so here is how I am feeling about being a teacher right now. Don't judge me too harshly.

I AM FREAKING OUT! And not because I am student teaching next semester, not because graduation is in May, but because I am not seeing the same kind of passion for education that I have had in past semesters. Not that I don't love teaching or don't love the students, because both are great, but for some reason, and maybe it is just my life right now, I don't feel as 100% involved in my classroom time. I go when I am supposed to, I ask my teacher all the right questions and am learning about teaching English, but the difference is that I feel I am just going through the motions and not really thinking about what I am doing or the impact that it could have on my future. I have separated myself from really caring about getting to know the students or really researching for great ideas for the classroom. I don't know why I am doing this. I want to say that is just me being lazy and getting by with as little work as possible. But what if there is more to it? What if I am getting crazy senioritis that makes you freak out so much about the real world that you avoid all things that would get you closer to that "adult" status.

Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have been at the same stage of classroom involvement for the past year. For the past 3 semesters I have been spending about 30 hours in the classroom and teaching 5 lessons. What if I am just bored with it and want more responsibilty? But then I start freaking about little extras like teaching the grammar lesson at the beginning, like legit, my heart starts beating faster.

I don't know. and then is someone going to tell us how to start looking for jobs. like when does that process start? Or maybe it already started and I won't even get a job. Dang. ok im done with this rant. maybe yall can help calm my nerves.

I have decided that my official role for my practicum class is "Vocab. game leader". Based on the way the class is structured, there is truly little opportunity for me to be involved in a different way, but it's still a little frustrating. Don't get me wrong, I love playing games with them! The students (they're 6th graders) get really into them and have a really good time, which makes things so much better. However, I feel like I'm not really get so much practice in "real" teaching since I just play Bingo or other vocab. games with them. Also, just a side note, I finally had figured out where everyone in the class sat and the teacher JUST rearranged the room... she says she does it about twice a year, and apparently she felt now was time for a change. Now I have no clue who sits where. Oh well. That's just part of it. I'm not sure if I'm going to have to do all of the vocabulary work that Mrs. Nall does with her students while I'm teaching. She hasn't said anything about it even though we've talked about my unit. Would it be better to do the vocab work to practice building in school-mandated lessons or should I try and leave it out altogether??

I'm starting to get nervous for the 5 day unit plan that we must teach during our practicum. I'm concerned for multiple reasons: (1)while the students are used to my presence, there are no opportunities to walk around and assist and my teacher hasn't invited me to do warm-ups (the only even potential opportunity to get minorly involved),(2)due to scheduling we have not been able to discuss topics or methods, and (3)my teacher has no real management plan set into place, so I'm unsure about whether or not the students will respect me. I'm unclear about whether or not we are restricted to teach in styles similar to our teacher in order to maintain consistency, and I'm wondering if this specifically applies to me because I am in an inclusion classroom. I know that some of the learning disabled students in the class will have some difficulty with changes in routine. Is anyone else nervous? What approaches are you all taking to transition your lesson into the context of your classrooms?

Here's the post for the week of October 15 - October 21.

I was kind of confused this week with our extremely brief discussion in class regarding grading - specifically the grading of individuals with learning disabilities. Someone had asked the question of whether an "A" received by a learning disabled student is different from an "A" received by a non-learning disabled student. We had agreed yes. However, I have always assumed that an "A" represented a student's best work done with the student's best effort given a student's individual capabilities. For instance, if the criteria to make an "A" is a strong thesis statement, a strong thesis statement for Suzy will look very different from Johnny's. If I always equate strong thesis statements with Johnny's writing then how will any other student make an A considering that no other student will write exactly like Johnny? I know that this approach requires knowing your students and knowing your students well, but is this concept completely off the mark? Did I misunderstand our discussion in class?

Here's the post for the week of Oct. 8-14

Ok. So, does anyone else feel unprepared to begin teaching? I was panicking about my career choice today, merely because I feel so unprepared. All of my education classes at Elon have been theory based, and while I recognize the importance and significance of theory, I was hoping that one course would provide me with method and help me bridge the gap and directly apply all of the theory to the method. That's why while I was originally nervous and overwhelmed with the idea of going to this NCTEA conference thing, I am now really excited for it. I cannot wait for the idea room, and I feel that the experience will provide me with insight to a new aspect of teaching (attending conferences).


I know this is kind of a random post, but this is what's on my mind at the moment.

I have been sort of just going through the motions of my practicum this semester. I show up ready to do some teacher things, but when I get to the class I feel as though I am at a loss of how to get more involved. Mrs. Cooley asked me if I wanted to lead a warmup which normally would be no big deal but it was a grammar centered warmup and I felt on the spot to know the grammar rule she was teaching. Maybe I should have swallowed my pride and just asked for a refresher but I didn't and an opportunity passed me by. The class is awesome and I have worked with a majority of the students last spring for another practicum. They are an advanced group of learners and Mrs. Cooley does a lot of great group activities with them. This makes me excited for when I teach my unit, because I know I can get creative with my lessons. However, I'm at a stand still because I have no idea what to do my unit on. I spoke with Mrs. Cooley but she just said that I could teach "whatever" and that she had no idea what they would be doing during the time I want to teach. I understand that she is probably trying to be flexible but English is not my primary concentration (math is) and I have no idea where to even start. Do I do a unit around a novel, short story, plays? I should probably send a similar email to Mrs. Cooley but does anyone have any suggestions? How do I narrow down what I'm going to teach?

I am conferencing tomorrow in order for her to review my lesson plan ideas. I am very excited about my topic and I cannot wait to finally get in front of the classroom with this great group. The unit is centered around the young adult novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I asked Ms. Rogers point blank if the students would be completing their reading as it was assigned. She gave me a funny look and said that she could not count on them to read outside of class and that with the novels the class read it together aloud in school. I am okay with this method if it is what gets the students reading and interested in the work; however, it’s a little discouraging that most of my class instruction time will be spent re reading the novel.

I do not remember reading a loud in class a lot, does anyone else recall doing this? Did students not simply fall asleep and not follow along? Do you suspect that some students were so nervous to read aloud in front of their peers that they missed the plot line of the novel? Are there any other options? I know that I will be doing this the way that Ms. Rogers knows best for this particular novel, but what about next semester with student teaching? I would like to be able to do this novel again (it’s great!).

So I think that the more I've understood the idea of the writing workshops the more I can see their value. I think that it's interesting how many articles or chapters we read talk so much about either reading or writing, but more don't really combine the two. I like it best when we read things that teach us how to make things work in the classroom, not just why it's important to do them. I feel like I've had so much theory, so I just want practical strategies. Like the last chapter we read in Making the Journey had a couple of great writing topics which I thought was really helpful. Instead of just telling us to use meaningful prompts (which it definitely covered as well......) it gave us some examples of tested prompts that worked. I guess I just feel really ready to have my own classroom and get to teach and try things and see how they go instead of always talking hypothetically. I guess this is kindof a scattered posting, but I just feel like a lot of the information I've kind of heard already... Of course, I could just be in the middle-of-the-semester slump! :)

After talking to Mrs. Garrison about my Unit, she made a comment that I wouldn't want to give homework on one of the nights because a draft of their research paper is due the next day. Homework? I haven't even thought about how to go about assigning homework assignments especially during my five lessons this semester.

In English classes there seems to be quite a bit of flexibility with assigning homework. This is as opposed to a math class, where most homework tends to be problems out of the text book. I know that I should not be stressing or worrying about how to assign homework, but at the same time, during student teaching I want my homework assignments to be meaningful and provide reinforcement and growth in the material being studied.

And then brings about the point of checking/grading/collecting the homework the next day in class. Do I give optional reading questions with reading assignments so that students are reinforcing what they read? How do I check that they're reading (besides a quiz)?

How do I do this and take into account how much and why type of homework is appropriate? I think that by just spending more time in my placement and talking with Mrs. Garrison, I'll quickly get a better grasp on assigning homework.

One more thing to think about. Sheesh. Hey-o pizza and classroom management on Tuesday :-)

I do not know why I struggle so much to remember to do these blogs. Get ready ... because I have 3 weeks of thoughts to get through. Here's the post for the week of 10/1-10/7

My practicum classroom is an English IV, college prep, inclusion classroom with 8 EC students out of a class of 20. While the majority of those 8 are ADD or LD in either reading or writing, one is physically "disabled" and the other appears to be high functioning with impaired social skills. The latter student is easily distracted and becomes flustered and reactive when overstimulated. He either responds by getting frustrated and lashing back inappropriately at students or by completely shutting down, staring into space and pacing. While confidentiality prohibits the teacher from ever directly addressing this student's differences with the class, it is clear that everyone recognizes his differences.

Three weeks ago, I observed a very disheartening scene in the classroom. The class was playing a whole-class review game which required students to occasionally answer a review question in front of the entire class. When this particular student had his turn, the majority of the rest of the class would call out to him and pressure him to answer quickly, purposefully trying to distract him and get a rise out of him. I was shocked that seniors in high school were engaging in this behavior and had the audacity to join together to pick on a student who can clearly not handle being teased or distracted. The teacher quickly recognized what was happening and sternly reprimanded the class without specifically mentioning the problem, but it made me wonder what I would have done in this situation. How do you create a sense of community in an inclusion classroom and prevent student bullying of students with disabilities while maintaining confidentiality? What would you do?