I already posted for the week, but I just wanted to add this segment of a song. I feel they deserve their own post.
That’s life
(That’s life)
That’s what all the people say
You’re riding high in April, shot down in May
But I know I’m gonna change that tune
When I’m back on top, back on top in June
Last night during seminar I have to say, it was a great experience to have Sues husband come and speak with us about the finances which we will have to put a lot more thought into now that we are moving into the professional world. I thank him greatly for his advice and wisdom. The only down side to him coming and visit, was that I am at the point in my life where such a speech is actually appropriate. Im 24 years old, and I really still feel like a child. I think thats why I was able to relate to my middle school students so well…i think like them and have them same interests…except for Justin Bieber.
Ive already commented on how quickly this program and ultimately this year has flown by, but Im really new at this whole playing adult thing. Ever since I finished my second student teaching placement, Ive found those past weeks to be the most existensial weeks in my life…where am I going now, what am I doing, will I be any good at it? I dont know how to answer those questions, and Im wondering if I want to answer them at this point. Maybe I just need a break, and by the end of the month Ill have a clearer picture…or maybe not.
It was kind of sad yesterday. When we were posting those notes in the activity during class, I had a quick moment of de ja vu from doing that during one of the summer classes. I have very vivid memories from that time, and I am just astonished as to how quickly they went by. Now its just time for me to move on…its just hard getting used to the idea I suppose.
Last note. Ive finished the GRS Star Wars cast. I have now found that a huge void exists in my life. I was thinking of doing the same now, only with Lord of the Rings ideas. I could do superheroes and villains. Any suggestions guys?
Your Friendly Neighborhood, Alex
Hey Future Teachers
Guys can you believe it? I mean honestly? We’re done student teaching. Im just in shock of this, and once we have our 3 certification tests, well be…teachers? Is that right? Im again in shock.
Let me continue talking of this. Its been a little over a week since I have completed my 9 week student teaching placement…my last time as a student teacher, and it is having some strange effects. Ive heard of individuals who have lost an arm,leg, any limb really, can often still feel the sensation when they still had that part of their body. I find the same strange thing is actually happening to me, only dealt with being out of school.
Each morning I wake up at 6:oo A.M (roughly) and mentally begin to prepare myself for teaching…but Im not student teaching anymore, so I seem to have some kind of phantom student teaching thing going on right now…but it doesnt end there. I often find myself saying I need to go to bed early, or when something interesting comes about, I often remark to myself “This could be interesting to show my students,” but then I remember I dont have any students. Also, these past couple days Ive decided to just relax a little bit, and I feel like Im betraying something. I dont know what, but I feel like I should be doing something else that is more oriented with teaching. Maybe I just need to acclimate back into being a student right now, and not so much the student-teacher that I have been since October.
Thats another thing, where has the time gone? Im again amazed about how much we manged to do in these past months, and how quickly it has all been done. Can you guys honestly believe that its been almost a year since we started this program? I cant. Alright, now Im just rambling.
Mainly, I just want to comment about how it is that the people we were in May of 2010, are not the same as the person in May of 2011. It is true of every year, but especially this year. Thinking of all my success, failures, joys, and miseries that have taken part of this past year, I can say will never quit happen again in my life, as it has this year.
Final note guys. Just be proud of yourselves. We’ve done something that many others cant.
Godspeed.
-Alex
Also here is a cool TED talk about what they think is meant by the Phatom Limb…I just realized now I can get back into my TED talks.
http://bodyinmind.com.au/ramachandran-and-phantom-limb-pain/
So a couple weeks ago I posted a blog discussing the tribulations, hardships, and overall stress of the GRS program held here at the Warner School. While some saw the exaggerations in the writing and some saw it as crude, I hope to demonstrate that, what I spoke of in that blog, is not all that the GRS program has to offer. I ended on a note saying that I have made a lot of great memories, and also have met a lot of great people. I further commented on the fact that we are asked to write a rant, and that was what I did. I intend to use this time to carry on with the idea of the great times Ive had here at Warner, but I am doing this out of no obligation…just ‘cus.
Last night, we in the cohort were given an opportunity to meet with several professionals in the field of education, and engage in a mock interview. While this was not a true interview, this was something that many of us took seriously, and can have some affect on our future. Beyond that however, I made a small portfolio, which Marhsall was kind enough to take note of in class. I think his exact words were, “As much as Alex complains, he is the most well prepared person I have ever met.” ..thanks Marshall. Anyway, it wasnt that I was necessarily well prepared, the GRS program is what prepared me, and honestly, all of us in the program.
During the interviews, I was able to show numerous examples to showcase how it was that I utilized certain teaching techniques, while student teaching, and also during STARS and Camp. Ok let me talk about STARS. Yes, STARS was a real pain to prep for, and the immediate payoff we hoped for at the time was non existent. However, in the small amount of time I had during the interviews, there were several times I used photos, and stories from STARS, that really helped back up the claims I was making, and overall just added a level of depth to my answers. The same can go for Camp, but Camp was a really fun and rewarding experience. So in regards to STARS, while it didnt give us what we hoped for at the time as far as rewards go, it certainly will in the future, as we move into the real world of looking for a job, which right now, is becoming more and more competitive, so STARS and Camp will help us shine above others applying for the same position.
Let me add one more comment about the interviews. I have several friends who go to other schools for education, and there is only one other that I have heard of in the region that also does mock interviews. For GRS to provide that experience and also exposure, is really a great benefit.
Let me talk about the one thing that I cannot stress enough about the GRS program. The people who work with you, really are amazing. I could not have asked for a better faculty of professors, as they really are a caring group, and while they are serious, really know how to take a joke, and just make things fun.
While things are tough here at Warner, they have also provided an amazing outlet for learning. This has probably been the most interesting year in my life due to how much has been going on, but at the same time, the most memorable. I finished my student teaching yesterday, and am now trying to figure out what to do. Student teaching was an absolutely fantastic time, and I just want to finish with one of the letters a student gave me.
Dear Mr. Mac,
It was a pleasure having you in our class. At first, when I saw you (no offense) I thought you were going to be a boring teacher, but I guess my thoughts were wrong with a capital W!!!! I had lots of fun doing cool activities. You weren’t boring or old school like Mr. **** (just Kidding!). Do you remember when *** and I told you to bring gummy worms and you didnt bring them because you didnt find them, well that was a-ok. At least you brought cookies. I like your teaching method, You dont just explain our homework to us; you create activities so that we understand. And that helped a lot (I know, dont start a sentence with “and”, I just felt like). I think everyone in class will miss you-expect me (just kidding)! I will miss your jokes and supercalifragaliscesadecspealedouscous teaching methods (I dont know if I spelled that right). You will be missed. Tear
Sincerely
****** ****
ps, dont get mad, but why dont you likek Justi Bieber??? Do you think he is annoying???
How could I ask for more?… In other words, thanks GRS for providing me with an experience like this.
I had to switch things up the other day, during my innovative unit. I realized I was going to have some spare time amidst my planned unit, so under the guidance of a very wise Sue Wyand, I decided to show a film version of the Dr. Seuss story, The Lorax.
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with my innovative unit, and the essential question, it is: Invertebrates. What are they and what is the human impact made on them and their environment? Prior to having watched the film, the students made a habitat for either 1 of 3 creatures which I assigned them:crickets, sea monkeys, and worms. Once the students in their groups made the habitat, they polluted them with common everyday objects.
…I just got a strange sense of de ja vu. I just realized why now. I wrote in my last blog about the procedure for the innovative unit.
Anyway, so I found that I had some time to kill, and as a result, showed The Lorax. I had the students write on a handout I gave them, scenes, words, dialog, images, or anything else that stuck out to them, that related to the investigation/scientific study they just conducted.
First let me say, their is just something about Dr.Seuss that is very striking, and truly does stand the test of time. The Lorax was made in the mid 1970′s and still holds up well today morally, culturally, and artistically. Once the video was completed, I had the students begin to share what they thought the moral of the story to the Lorax was. Essentially, it deals with the ideas of pollution, greed, and the fact that many individuals are blinded by the material items and wealth which they can gain, at the cost of exhausting the planets resources, and also putting the future in jeopardy. This sharing of ideas the students had lead to a class discussion that was really great, because I had no real lecture prepared for it, I just wanted to see what insights the students gained, and how they could relate it to the work done in class. In some respects, the talk went very well, but I dont think I connected it strongly enough for the students. It was the first time I attempted a discussion with the class during this placement, so I really had no preparation. Regardless, it went well.
The thing that I think was great however, that I learned after showing the film to 2 of my 5 classes, the Lorax ends with the power of the word “Unless”. I brought this word up to the students midway through the discussion. I later shifted in saying, Unless at the end, and said “Think about this to yourself. From what was discussed in the film, and what we talked about as a class just now…unless what?” While some students seem to think about it, some just kind of moved on. Either way guys, its a very powerful theme in the movie that is very relevant today. Im sure in every science field in a high school setting, their is a way you can incorporate this in your class, and I recommend you do.
Alright, so Im in my 3rd day of my innovative unit, and today the students actually worked on preparing their animals habitat,and also polluting to see the effects. Oh before I forget, let me explain what it is that my innovative unit involves. The idea is that the students select from three different invertebrates (sea monkies, crickets, worms) and then essentially pollute them (with soap,detergent, fertilizer, apple juice and orange juice).
The concept behind the unit was to have the students see how their everyday actvites plays a part in the environment, in terms of pollution. So today they got their creatures, made their habitats, and then polluted them. All was going fine, until the same monkeys came into play. The crickets are pretty durable as are the worms. I was more than pleased to see my students were not focusing on killing the animals, or just polluting them, they were focusing on the topic at hand. Some crickets manged to survive as did most worms…the sea monkeys were a different story. The moment they hit the water with that small bit of pollutant, they bit the dust. One had a small amount of pollutant, while another student, placed an ENTIRE tablespoon full of fertilizer in his sample of 3 sea monkeys in 200 mL of water. When I looked at the end of the day in the container, I didn’t even see the sea monkeys in that container….i think they dissoved or something awful like that.
Needless to say, this was part of the innovative unit. Now its called te innovative unit, probably for the reason that it has the students doing something unique during their time in school. That was definitely the case, as I am sure this is something that the students haven’t done. However, I think the unit is innovative on the level, that it requires the pre service teachers, to find out how things have the potential to go right, wrong, and then WAY wrong. I have encountered all this already while working on my innovative unit. It honestly has been a blast thus far working with the students and getting their hands dirty, literally, and seeing how chaotic science can be.
My main take away is that, anticipate ALL the things that can go wrong while doing a test like this. Before planning, I didnt even think about the idea of containers to store the creatures and their habitats. That resulted in me stealing roughly 100 containers from the Wegmans oliver bar. I wish you guys could see me walking out of Wegmans, with a bag of groceries in one arm, and dozens of olive containers in the other, acting as if I bought them. Also, their were supposed to be 75 Sea Monkies to hatch in the container. Want to know how many hatched…25. And they ALL DIED within 1 period of the test. So think of everything ahead of time to the closest detail you can, and anticipate all that can go wrong. I must say that I am righting this while still in my school, and I can hear the crickets chirping. Its kind of acting as a reminder that the unit is still working…in some way at least.
A couple of times I have blogged about how surprised I am that, when students take note of your absence, something you sasy, or something you do that influences them. I have wrote about this in a positive regard, indicating the students were complimenting me. Something happened this week however that indicated the opposite.
Just to start off, let me say that the majority of my students seem to like me, and we have a good time together. There have been some incidences however, where I have had to scold students for their behavior, or the class. This is something I really try to avoid, but its neccessary at times. Anyway, I am a sarcastic person by nature…im sure most people know this about me. Well I don’t know if it is the sarcasm or the fact that I have scolded the class once or twice, that a student told her mother, she pretty much did not like me. The mother emailed my CT, and he showed me this email (hiding the students identity of course). I spent a long time trying to figure who this was and what could have happened to make the student feel this way. I think I figured it out, but that doesnt matter. The student apparently felt, as indicated by the parent, that I was dismissive of them once, as I accussed them of talking, when they weren’t or something of the sort. I have to say this whole incident brought me down a bit, and I have re thought a lot of what I do. While most of my students seem comfortable with me, apparently this one does not. Needless to say the issue has been resolved, and my CT seems to feel that this is not an issue, and I shouldn’t get hung up over it. In all honesty, he treats me too well.
My main message, is be careful around students especially younger ones. I have had parents tell me their child cant stop talking about me at home, because they were surprised to see we had the same interest. I dwelled on this too much. I thought because of the one positive thing I said, then the students would be comfortable with me…well the opposite can happen. One small thing can trigger happiness, and one small thing can trigger hurt.
I’ve already discussed in a previous blog about how much I value the idea of co teaching or at least co planning with another professional or practicing professional, and this past week provided me with another opportunity to explore this idea. However, the difference which occurred this time, involved gaining greater student involvement.
So for the past 2 weeks, Ben and I have been toying aroung with the idea, about having the students physically demonstrate how it is that pollen can be disperesed, which takes the form of animals transport, wind, and water currents. We managed to develop water transport by purchasing these confetti pieces, to act as pollen and then use a long table cloth which would be wrapped around a desk to act as a stream. The students would pull on the “stream” and however mananged to land in a bin, would indicate the efficiency in pollen transport. With wind, we would have students place some pollen in their hands and then blow it onto a set of squares on the tile. So we were set with those two, but we COULD NOT develop a rational idea to use as a model for animal transport. The closest thing I got was having them hi-five each other, one acting as the animal and another student the plant, and the transfer of pollen would occur between their hands,that was not gonna happen, so we were at a loss. I began testing this out regardless, and it was just a mess to have to pick up the confetti, especially since each station would have 50 pieces, and they had to do 3 trials of each. As a result, I called been and said that this plan was not going to work. Literally, within 5 minutes we developed a new idea that was far superior to our original. Our new lab was to have the students build flowers using a variety of materials we presented to them (straws, coffee filters, clay, wicky sticks, crayons, confetti, construction paper, pipe cleaners, beads, post it notes, pencils, markers, glitter glue, and pretty much whatever was in the classroom) and it has been a huge success. Essentially the prompt is they have to design a flower that is the most appealing to bees and will also be the most efficient in allowing for pollination to occur. Then at the end, they will present their flower to class, and the class will vote which flower is the most efficient and prettiest amoungst themselves. I really want to see how that part goes. Anway, this activity has had a huge level of involvement by the students and both CTs have stated they are very pleased with the result and effort by the students. This is where my new idea leads me to.
For a while in class, we have discussed how is it that we can get all our students involved, and honestly, I do not think their is a way to get 100% enthusiastic voluntary involvement on everyday. This may sound negative, but on any given day, there will not be 100% full involvement by the students. I say this because I have students who perform poorly in the class but are exceling on this activity. I would say I have a high level of participation but not 100%. I really don’t think this can ever happen. I will always try my best, but I am going in saying that this is something that not everyone will enjoy. But it is for that reason that I will try to add a level of variety to each lab to accomodate for those differences.
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone else know this lab has been going great, and for those who want to use it, go right ahead. As always, God Speed.
Lately, I have blogged about my experiences within my student teaching, and since week there is no school, I figured I may as well discuss something slightly outside this realm.
During seminar yesterday, it was dedicated in assisting us, to make better decisions and also preparing us on how we should go about applying for jobs. This was a great use of our time, and I appreciated every moment that our guest had to share. Something was said yesterday however, that kind of shook me, and when I analyzed the entire situation, it only enhanced that awkward feeling. What was said was “You’re almost done with the program.” Now I know that I am, but hearing that, and then having a seminar dedicated to preparing us for finding a job, was just strange to me. I am at the point in my life where I have to start making some big decisions….and its a little unsettling to me. Im not saying that Im unprepared, but it didn’t fully sink in until recently. Its interesting, because one attends undergraduate programs, to develop a certain skill set, but it usually isn’t to prepare them for the career they intend to embark on. I am in a program which is preparing me for a career that I will be doing for the rest of my life. Just writing that is odd to me…im not shaken up by this, its just a slap in the face by realities hand.
Anyway, Ive thought about what I plan on doing next year, and Im pretty content on not taking a year off so to speak, but my plan is to substitute teach, and then take 6 more credits in chemistry, and get another certification, so the following year, I can start applying and have both chem and bio under my belt. Its just a thought, but it is becoming more and more appealing to me as I think about it…but like all things, this will probably change.
this kind of sums it up
Hey folks. Time for the glorious weekly blog. So I have something to talk about today that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. So last week, my CT, brought me in to join his team of co workers during a parent teacher conference, and it was a great experience. It was so nice to see a parent who cared for her child in such a powerful manner. Even though she was a little forceful in her methods, I can’t blame her for her concern. While there, this mother began to discuss how it was her daughter was thrilled and couldn’t stop telling her about the time I said “I like the book youre reading. When I was you’re age, it was one of my favorites.” Thats not exactly what I said, but it was something similar. Anyway, this struck me, because I really had no idea that simple statement had such an impact on this student. I was also overjoyed because of the fact that this student was crying each day before school, because it was “boring” (according to her mother). To know one of the positives however, was me speaking to this student, I was honestly wowed by this, and I really didn’t know how to respond to the mother when she told me this. I think I might have actually told her, “Wow…I don’t know how to respond to this.” One simple thing can really change the way these students feel. Its incredible. I blogged about a similar incident before in my last placement when I had been absent for a short period of time, and the students asked me where I was, and seemed concerned, when I returned. It came as a shock then, and it is still a shock now. Even though I feel I am getting closer and closer to realizing this sentiment felt by students, I still don’t think I have a full grasp of it.
That was a positive note. Something happened a few days later however, that has still bothered me. The incident was that I was lecturing and when I asked students if they have any questions, one raised his hand and said, “SoandSo is picking on SoandSo” (the student said, real names….not SoandSo.) As I was there along with the 3 other teachers, we didn’t notice anything resembling what the student mentioned. I was a little upset about the incident, and stated, “This is inappropriate that you would mention this in the middle of our work. You need to let us know about these things, but at the right time, and this is not the right time.” Honestly, I was probably wrong, and I wish I had dealt with it differently. The following period I found the student at lunch and spoke with him privately about it. I said he did the right thing in letting me know, but he has to do so at a different time. Then I apologized to him. I still feel bad about this, in that the student probably felt he was doing the right thing, and I made him think otherwise. Oh the moral rollercoasters we have to ride. Live and learn.
Last note. Find a more specific question to ask students other than “Do you guys have any questions?’ Because I got this from a student, when we were talking about Plants at the time.
“Has anyone ever told you, you look like Shai Labeouf?”
maybe shes right….
