This week, I had my three innovative lessons and was observed twice. I always get so stressed when I’m being observed, on top of having the stress of being a new teacher. The night before, I jumped up out of my bed five times thinking that I had overslept. However, I was very happy with my first innovative lesson. I feel like I blended the Warner style and my CT’s style nicely. I still feel like I don’t have a style yet because I am restricted by someone else’s overarching scheme. Once I’m a teacher, and I’m in charge of planning the sequence of units, I will enjoy the freedom.
     I started the astronomy unit this week, and it is such an exciting subject. Not only have I recently taken astronomy, but I have always been fascinated by it. However, no matter how much you enjoy and study astronomy, a teacher is never able to answer all the quetsions that students come up with about the universe and what’s out there. In fact, this week has helped me to master gracefully admitting that I don’t know the answers, and that I will look them up. Already, this has happened four times. I also wrote their overall question, “What’s out there?” on the board and continue to tie all the lessons into this big question.
     I am definitely exhausted, and, I hate to admit that I am looking forward to the February break. However, this is not because I dislike teaching- it’s because I’ve been staying up too late working on lesson plans and barely getting homework done. In spite of this, I am not going to complain. Instead, I’m going to see it as something that I will be proud of in August. I will look back at all my hard work and say, “Wow, I did all of that!?”

This past week has been very hectic, but I have learned a lot that will help me as a teacher. It was midterm week at my high school, and I have never graded so many papers! My CT said that I saved him 8 hours of grading, and that he had never been this ahead during midterms week! I was able to walk around and check on our students during their midterms. Their hands were shaking, eyes were bloodshot, and they looked as if they could have a panic attack at any moment! I can’t believe how high stakes Regents midterms are for students. It isn’t right! Kids shouldn’t have this much stress on them. I think that many schools would benefit from a portfolio approach to grading. Based on these grades, teachers will recommend students to move up to the next level (more intensive courses next year) or to stay at a level that will “help them improve”. It’s a shame that so much time is spent to prepare students to make good test scores. On a happier note, I was able to get to know other teachers better this week. We ate lunch together, and one teacher helped me think of fun ideas for my lessons next week. Teachers at this school are so helpful, and there is a sense of community there. The most valuable resources really are other teachers in your school.

This past week has been so exciting! The students are such sweethearts! I’ve never realized how much students want to get to know teachers. This past week has been fun with students coming in and out of the office to talk to us before and after classes and during lunch. My CT oversees the radio station, which is attached to his office, so we get to listen to the students doing the radio show after school. He also coaches three sports- lacrosse, field hockey, and the ski team. There are always students running in and out with questions about their sport schedules and equipment. On the first day, the students were anxious to meet me and find out about my life. I love the high energy! The students seem refreshed and ready to work. They are able to focus and realize that midterms are only a couple of weeks away. My CT has been so helpful. I’ve gone over homework and taught one review session, one lesson, and a whole period so far, and he gives me helpful feedback. Here are some things that I need to work on:
- transitioning from conversations to beginning the lesson
- moving around the room
- giving more time for the students to process and critically think about my questions
- helping the students transition from my CT’s teaching style to mine
My CT told me that much of this will come naturally when I am more comfortable with teaching and the class. I was so worried about learning 80 students’ names, but I already know them all after a week! The other teachers and staff are also so friendly. They’ve welcomed me and made me aware of the tremendous amount of resources. I attended a faculty meeting today and was surprised at the number of teachers in our school. There are so many committees and projects going on in the school, and it is obvious that the teachers really care about the students. It’s also amazing how involved the parents are. My CT spends most of his morning replying to emails from parents. Though it can be demanding, this is a good problem to have as a teacher. I can’t wait to take on teaching full-time, and I wake up excited to go to school!

This week was the last day of STARS with our girls. I was very pleased at the way things went, and we accomplished all of our objectives. I was a little disappointed to see that M was the only student from our half team to show up, but she represented FS well. It was so sweet when the two girls from ES cried because they were going to miss us. We had a very nice group hug. What will stay with me forever, though, is the bonding that M and I had over the poor decisions of our mothers. I wanted to call her guardian to invite them to our final presentation on Saturday, and I asked M who I should call. When she told me that she lives with her sister, I mentioned that I used to live with my sister, too. We both found out that it was for the same reason- our moms chose their new boyfriends over us. I told her that moms sometimes make bad decisions, and we have to make sure not to do this to our daughters. Some people may feel uncomfortable with sharing personal information with their students, but I think that this was a “real” moment that benefited both of us. I hope that our students take from their experiences that they can change vicious cycles of poor decisions and become what they want to be. It might just take one moment like this one today.

Our lesson was successful because each of our objectives were met, and our students had very thoughtful responses during their video interviews. Though their answers were not perfect, our students had obviously been paying attention during our discussions and they were very reflective during their answers. While the students were being pulled out one at a time, the other students were working on the Power Point presentation for our final presentation and were drawing on chart paper to put on the tri-fold poster. We were able to discuss what the questions would be during their interviews, and we had a conversation about possible ways to answer the questions. Though we had trouble with S during most of the lesson, she ended up participating and contributing to the presentation. I had a much-needed discussion with the girls about having respect for me just as I do for them. They seemed to understand, and they refrained from being inappropriate as they were before. Overall, I am pleased that we were able to make it through all of the interviews and that they got a good start on the final presentation. I have a feeling that they will be proud of their hard work at the end of STARS.

They are not vessels
They are not clay
We do not shape them
Their ways will stay.
They have their own beliefs
They define what is true
Do not assume that
They will agree with you.
So when they come in
And they lack energy or interest
Refrain from believing that compliance is best.
They are humans
They are breakable
Their lives may be hard.
You are not working with blank slates.
Those slates might be scarred.

Friday was very exciting. I had a very deep discussion with a student while I was helping him with math homework. He immediately let me know that he can only do math if he has a teacher with him. Then, I realized that he is a very literal student. For example, I told him to “plug in the number into the variable.” This confused him, and he said, “How do I plug in a number? You should say ‘write’ a number.” It was difficult to make sure to say everything very literally. I then found out that he hated to do math and science because he didn’t think that they were in the “real world.” I argued that they are and asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He said a football player. After telling him that football had math and science in it, he protested adamantly and explained that football is fun- science and math are only in school. I asked him what the quarterback is doing as he runs across the yard lines. He said, “Trying to score a goal.” I replied, “Yes, and as he runs over the yard lines, he’s adding up points- right? What about when a player breaks his leg- isn’t that science?” He said, “No, that’s just an injury.” I explained how the force behind it is physics (something he will learn in the future) and his skeletal system that is affected is biology. The student was very determined to prove me wrong, and I had fun arguing with him. We were both giggling the whole time and thinking of clever ways to trip the other person up. Before he left the class, he grinned and said, “I’m bringing you a test about football on Friday!”

My suspicions about the student acting out last week were true- Joe let us know that this student had some awful things going on at home. He also let us know that two other students were struggling with personal problems that would most likely affect their performance in STARS. I am really glad that I talked to the student and asked her if she was okay last week. Joe told me that this is important to do, and it lets her know that we care. These girls are humans before they are students, and I think that teachers often lose sight of the need for compassion in their classrooms when they have so much to accomplish in a short period of time. This student is already improving, she made fewer negative comments, and she participated more. I’m going to count that as success.

I found a very helpful paper by Barnwell (2009) called, Fostering Positive Behavior in Middle School Classrooms. In this article, Barnwell discusses very helpful methods to use in a classroom to keep students interested and engaged, while keeping in mind their personal lives and needs. Maeghan and I have already utilized a couple of these methods, such as assigning girls to video record while we work or physically moving around to prevent boredom. I really found all of the suggestions helpful.

This eighth STARS meeting was successful because we accomplished our objectives- the girls discussed and were made aware of the questions that will be asked during their video interviews next week and they recognized our impact on the environment. We laid out chart paper on the ground and had them collaboratively write their answers on each paper. Maeghan had put each interview question at the top of each chart paper. We were very aware of our girls’ need to get up and move around often, so I created an eco-scavenger hunt with questions such as, “Find the biggest source of waste for your school.” We were pleasantly surprised by the answers they were coming up with. We used a little extrinsic motivation (a bag of candy), but they seemed to need it this week. Later, we found out that they had previously sat through a long lecture at U of R. This explains why it was like pulling teeth to get them to contribute to discussion! In spite of this, we had some really important discussions, such as the importance of appreciating the free pizza (even if they’re sick of it), and realizing that Maeghan and I care about them. I feel like we’re bonding with them more (one girl played with my hair during discussion). It might be because we’ve been talking about how their actions affect us. After the girls left, we had a good conversation about the importance of showing the students that we are human. You don’t want to seem too weak, but you also don’t want to see like an alien with no emotions. I’m getting more and more excited about having my own classroom!

Is it horrible to feel like teaching is easier when some students are absent? I definitely feel like a horrible person because this crossed my mind. The student who has been absent for the last two weeks showed up today. She completely distracted the other girls and made harsh comments to everyone, including Maeghan and me. I always keep in mind that some kids go through things every day that I couldn’t even imagine. I had a feeling that there was something wrong with this student because of the way she was acting out and being hurtful to everyone. I pulled her to the side during a transition and asked her if everything was okay. She had a very serious look on her face, almost like she was about to cry, and said, “Yeah…I’m fine.” She pulled away and continued to act out. Joe also had to talk to her about being rude while others are talking. She just laughed it off. At the end of the day, I said, “What can I do to make you come back next week more enthusiastic?” She said, “We should do more fun stuff.” I said, “Like what? We need your help. We want you to have fun.” She told me that she didn’t know and walked away. I predict that she might be a hard case to crack, but I think persistence and letting her know that we care about her will help. During our plusses and arrows, I realized that today was the same for the other group at our school. They also had students who were distracting and detached. Today didn’t bring me down. In spite of the problems, we still had fun and accomplished our goals. We had a similar experience as Carli’s group with the “Draw a Scientist” activity because all of the girls drew women and explained why their scientists were women. One girl made their scientist love fashion! I was so happy- scientists can be fashionable too! The girls also created their own bar graphs depicting our data. S took the initiative to make a graph on my computer. I was so excited. We also came up with great ideas to use in our final presentations. I think the students realize that the presentations aren’t too far off, and they’re starting to come up with good ideas. I look forward to next week, and I feel that we are on track with our investigations.

This week was pretty relaxed, and I think the girls needed it. We collected data with a hydrometer. The girls were eager to do it themselves. They set up a table, and drew pictures next to each fruit, and filled in the data. Immediately,they noticed which fruit was the most efficient for making biofuel- the one with the highest ethanol percentage. While collecting data, we had a discussion about how this experiment ties in with environmental science. By the end of the day, they were able to explain that we are studying alternatives to fossil fuels and that we are actually scientists practicing important science. Near the end, we told the girls to hang their data table on the wall downstairs, and they made Halloween slime. They really seemed to have fun and be relaxed. At the end, we video conferenced with the other half team, but we were having problems with the sound. We were able to share what we did and hear a little about what the other team did, but we ended up having to stop the conferencing. Gotta love those technical difficulties with technology! Overall, I’m pleased with the day. We accomplished our objectives while having a fun relaxed day with the two girls who showed up for STARS.