Extra Day One.

Today, I had some difficulties controlling the noise level in the classroom for the Applied English. During discussion it got pretty hectic, so I might have to alter the seating arrangements with approval from my CT. While we were reading the novel, things quieted down. These students love this book, which makes me overjoyed to hear! One student even read ahead for today! I was so proud of him, and the fact that he also understood the material! =D

On the other side, while grading papers tonight, I had to do some digging to find out if a student plagiarized or not. Unfortunately, the work was not his. It was word for word off of the internet, which upsets me so much. I know he has the potential to write a substantial paper! I just wish he would put forth the effort.

Week Four.

Well, I only have two weeks left of practicum! I am actually really upset about this! I have grown so attached to these kids, and have loved watching them grow and learn. It is going to be very difficult saying goodbye to them in two weeks.

This week, I did a lot of teaching specifically with the Applied English class. We have started a new unit on a novel called, The Pigman, and they have seemed to really enjoy it! A couple of girls are reading ahead, and students are actually doing their homework! I am very impressed with this class and how involved they are getting during discussion. Usually, students immediately zone out. I have only had one or two of them the past few days do this with me, but they have all been getting better at it. Each student has his or her personal strengths and weaknesses. I just need to work on figuring that out and developing upon that idea.

Other than that, I have had my formal observation this week, which was stressful, but went extremely well! I conferenced with my observer today, and she complimented my teaching styles and said that to her, I am a natural. I am so honored she gave me this praise! =) It really meant a lot to me, and is definitely a push in the right direction.

I haven't got a chance to talk much about my CT, but as a personal shout out to her, YOU ARE AWESOME! I couldn't have asked for a better mentor! She is so helpful with praise and criticism, and I have learned so much in the first four weeks. I hope to stay in touch with her as I continue on this long road! =) Also, a personal thanks for her putting up with me this past week. It has been very stressful, and I have been a little crazy!

I have also been conferencing with the Honors class, and it is amazing to see that they actually respect me, and are willing to come to me for help. I am very proud of this class, as I have watched them develop some deep and complex essays. Each students has improved exponentially, and I simply cannot wait to read their final products.

Day Four, Week Three.

It's official, halfway done with practicum. Very scary! Also very sad! I love this school and the kids!!!

In advisory, I got to help a specific student write his second body paragraph. He had some good ideas, but needed help formulating them. So we started from scratch, and he and I created a good concept map of his ideas, and then the ideas came flowing! He will do well on the final paper, and I am impressed with how much work he is putting into this paper. =)

Other than that, the Honors II class was in the lab again today, working on their papers and projects.

In Applied English, I have started to take more control over the class and am allowing them to get used to me. I love them and I feel that they are responding well to me! =) I did have a student refuse to do something for me today. I had never had to deal with something such as this, and to me, it just makes no sense as to why they wouldn't complete the assignment. He claimed it was "too much work". I have always been raised to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING a teacher asks me to do, whether I liked it or not! So, it was difficult for me to handle this situation. Hopefully he will turn it in to my CT tomorrow, my fingers are crossed.

Day Three, Week Three.

Today in the Honors II class, I had to quickly run through the grammar lesson and then supervise them peer reviewing each other's papers. I really think that peer reviews are an effective form of enhancing students' writing processes. This was proven by one student that approached me today with revisions made on her paper. She had some concerns about topic unity, and I was able to work through them with her. The same went for another student, except he was uneasy about his concluding sentence. Together, we moved past his issues, and he developed a really solid closing! I was so proud!

In Applied English, the students got to read their narratives out loud to the class. There were some really great stories! =) It was nice to see that the students took into consideration my suggested changes, and I was happy to see that ALL of them made revisions! =D

Day Two, Week Three

Today in Honors II, I got to help some students come up with ideas for their creative projects. They were in the lab again, and I got some one on one time with several students.

In the Applied English class, I got to run a review game. It was called "Crosswords" and the kids were to fill out the worksheet as the game went on. They generally seemed enthused about the game, and then we began.Those kids are so competitive! They were so excited about the game, and called cheaters, etc. I didn't exactly know how to react! I tried so hard to keep them under control, but it was so difficult!

Overall, I feel that they learned the material very well, and used the sheets I made for them. Hopefully they will perform well on the tests!!!

Next time I do a review game, I will hopefully be able to control them more.

Day One, Week Three.

For the Honors II kids, we were in the lab again, working on projects and second body paragraphs. I got to take some home and grade them myself, and then compared grades with my CT. We were pretty close with the exception of two or three! =)
Their paragraphs are really moving along. I love seeing each of them grow as they continue to ask questions and learn how to become better writers.
I got to spend some one on one time with a particular student today, as she had writer's block. Helping jog her memory and offering a different perspective seemed to do the trick! She nearly finished her first body paragraph, and had more ideas flowing by the end of the period!

The Applied English class was also in the lab today, and they worked on their scary narratives. All but two turned them in!!! This was  a HUGE accomplishment for me, and I am so proud of all the hard work they are doing! They have come pretty far even since my first day. =)
Their narratives are also pretty humorous. I am having difficulties though figuring out what they are saying sometimes. They don't have the fluidity that the sophomore class has yet, but we'll see if that changes through some conferences!

On to day Two of Week Three... Running a game!

Week Two.

Week Two: This week I taught my first lesson, which went incredibly well! I was so thrilled that these kids were interested in learning about parenthetical citations! They participated well and generally seemed interested in learning. Some of them were taking notes without me even asking them to. I followed up with asking a few questions, and they clearly understood what I was talking about! =)

The rest of the week we have been in the lab, so I haven't done much teaching. However, I have been able to individually help some students out with their essays or narratives. It has been so much fun, actually! I am happy to help them understand a topic more, or how to help them further explain themselves.

Day Four

Day Four:

Today, I learned some classroom slang, which was strange for me to hear. I have a younger sister, but she definitely does not have the same lingo as these students! For example, apparently "Yeah Donnie!" means, "No, I do not understand the lesson.". This is something I will sincerely have to work on understanding, hah!

However, I didn't do much today. I lead the opening reading activity, which went surprisingly well. I was nervous about doing it with my freshman, because I figured they wouldn't be interested in it at all, and I wouldn't be able to spark discussion with them. They surprised me! They answered every question correctly, and even developed a small discussion on the topic. I was pretty proud!

I have officially survived my first week of practicum, and am very excited for what will be in store for next week (my first actual lesson!).

Day Three

Day Three:

Today, I was able to conduct a grammar lesson with both the sophomores and the freshman. I enjoyed it so much! I had never felt such excitement when the students would catch a particularly difficult punctuation or spelling error. =) I felt that the students also learned quite a bit and were able to reinforce their understanding as they picked apart each bit of the sentences, wondering what could allow them to make grammatical sense.

I once again assisted with the literary terms presentation, and with the observation of my CT realized that nearly every student was using the graphic organizer I made! I was thrilled to see that! One particular student had also missed class the day before, and he actually filled out the parts of the graphic organizer that he missed by free will! =D
These students truly are reinforcing the fact that I have made a correct career choice.

I cannot wait to watch each and every one of them grow as the semester goes on!

Day Two

Day Two:

In the sophomore honors class, I lead a reading activity with them at the beginning of class. I had never spoken in front of high school students before, so naturally it was a little rough. Hopefully if I just take a deep breath before I say anything at all, my nerves will vanish. I also supervised them peer grading and reviewing their introductory paragraphs to an analytical essay. I gave support when needed, and also elaborated slightly on the topic of “themes”.

The freshman applied English class learned about literary terms today that were on a pretest the day before. I had created a PowerPoint and a graphic organizer to allow them to follow along easily. I feel that the presentation I tag teamed with my Cooperating Teacher (CT) went really well!

1.      The class was quite chatty, but we used it to our advantage and had some great discussion about several of the terms, such as allusion.

2.      I feel that my CT and I came up with effective examples throughout the lesson that allowed deeper understanding with the class.

3.      I noticed that I feed off of the classes positive energy, and although they are a little talkative, I was able to spark some creative discussion and asked some thought provoking questions.

However, there could have been some improvements.

1.      I feel that I did (and most likely will) have a difficult time keeping this class on track as discussions will continuously develop.

2.      I wish that I could have had additional couple of minutes to get further in the lesson, or perhaps finish it.

3.      I had planned for video clips to show, but unfortunately the technology did not work. I need to learn how to be more flexible with sudden changes in my plan.

Day One

Day One:

Practicum began today, and it’s obviously very early so I did not do much other than introducing myself and supervising some activities, as well as tallying tests and recording grades. Overall, I feel practicum has quite a bit in store for me. I have to lead a class discussion on 40 literary terms tomorrow to a freshman class, so wish me luck!