I have yet to even look at the portfolio stuff because I’m still stuck doing my innovative unit! I just finished teaching it yesterday, and for some reason, I thought I could finish the paper by tonight at midnight! Not going to happen. However, I was browsing through my cohort’s blogs, and I stumbled upon Carli’s blog. She had appropriately ranted about the frustrations of writing the portfolio paper. How can it feel as if we’re drowning when we’re supposedly near the end? This is so overwhelming, and I am at loss for words. Yet, I must write because there is a blog due tonight. Oh yeah, I guess I could reflect back on the positives from this week…

This was the last week of my innovative unit. Next week is my last week teaching! I am so worn out because I was too ambitious and decided to do very time-consuming lessons that required much planning and preparation every day. What do I have to show for it- exhaustion, an overworked husband, and an incomplete unit paper. On the flip side, my students are learning and are happy with me, my CT is pretty happy with me, and that will be one darn good innovative unit when I’m finished writing it! I’m struggling lately though. I have to keep reminding myself to look at the positives. They’re often overshadowed by how stressed I am. Tomorrow, I have to finish my unit for my elementary class (it’s only around 10 pages, though). I also have to finish writing plans for four days next week (I’ve finished Monday), and I have to start the portfolio stuff. Poor Carli…if she’s struggling, I know I’m in trouble! Hang in there, Carli! You can do it! Ok, now someone send me some encouraging words to get me through the weekend! :S

So, the Earth Science people met last Wednesday to plan the final celebration on Monday. We were on the balcony at Starbucks on campus trying to figure out how to make a cloud in a bottle. Mike said, “I really wish we had an air compressor.” I screamed with excitement, “I have one in the car!” We scared everyone off the balcony with our loud air compressor! It was hilarious. This experience made me reflect back over our experiences at Warner. Though we may complain about how difficult it has been to write so many papers while student teaching, we are lucky to have the experiences we have had. I look at all the different students on campus (most which look super young and make me feel old), and I wonder what they are majoring in. Do they have a clue what they are doing? Are they in a program that requires no hard work or thought? When I talk to our cohort, I see a group of people who have it figure out. We have our own teaching philosophy, we know our content area inside and out, and we are on a mission to make the world better.
About four years ago, I was wandering aimlessly through life in a college I hated, in classes that I felt lost in, with no clue of what I wanted to do with my life. Now, I feel like I have a purpose in life. I can imagine where I’ll be in five years. I know what is important in life. It’s crazy to step back from the chaos and look at your life as an outsider. Just the other day when I was hiking, I made myself stop panicking about all the papers I have to write and just be. Just see myself walking on the trail, breathing the fresh air, watching the birds, and talking to my husband about future plans for our lives. This is a very difficult thing when you’re used to your life being hectic. However, I think we should all make ourselves do this occasionally. When you see yourself from an outsider’s view, or you look up at the stars, all your silly little worries seem to become minuscule- and life a little more tolerable.
So, science cohort, the light is at the end of the tunnel. Our stresses and anxieties should not take away from the celebration of what we have achieved. We should realize that nothing great comes without a great price. We should always remind each other of this when we are struggling.
Disclaimer: Topics in this post may not pertain to every reader. This post was written mainly for the comfort of the blogger, and reader discretion is advised.

Any teacher would be able to tell you that students are super-distracted on the day (or week) before a break. I was feeling this chaos on Friday. Even though Friday was the Day of Silence, where students took a vow of silence to stand up for students who feel silenced (check it out at http://www.dayofsilence.org/index.cfm ), some classes were unruly. By the end of the day, students had given up their vow because, let’s face it, being silent the whole day is very difficult!

The plans for Friday involved reminding students to work on their recycling project and see how many birds they can find over the break, then finishing up our presentations. On days such as this, the students are often too restless to concentrate on a lot of work. The best option might be to show a Bill Nye video. In order to make sure they pay attention to the video, because Bill Nye videos are awesome and they can really teach students a lot, you might want to include a “capture sheet”. I found a great website with Bill Nye sheets for keeping students focused during the movie. They are at this website-  http://moviesheets.com/site/bill-nye.php. Though we didn’t have time to show a video, I will consider this as a back-up plan before breaks.

This past week has been very stressful with the job interviews. I had three at the Teacher Recruitment Day. I thought I was a bad interviewer, but I was actually surprised by how good I felt about my interview capabilities. The mock interviews  and the discussion in class were very helpful. I’m hoping that the job market isn’t as horrible as everyone is saying, and we are all able to find jobs!

This was my last week before I begin my innovative unit. We had a test on Friday to see how well the students understand ecology. I’m really excited about my innovative unit because it’s two of my favorite topics- environmental science and ornithology. I’m tying the ornithology component into the human impact part by emphasizing the effect we have on birds. Birds are great indicator species- meaning, we can use their condition to give us a clue about the health of the environment.

There are some really great resources for science teachers about environmental science and animal biology. The DEC’s website http://www.dec.ny.gov/23.html is a great resource for learning about endangered species and invasive species.  I will probably use some of the material from this website when giving students good resources for researching.

I’m also going to try to get one of my student’s mother to come to our classroom. She works at the Senaca Zoo, and she is in charge of “touch tables”- several animals are brought to a place so kids can touch them. This would be a great addition to my instruction. Overall, things are still hectic, but I’m having fun!

I just took over every class this week, and it has been great. Even though the planning is a lot of work, it is totally worth it. After spending hours planning for a 40-minute class, the day usually runs pretty smoothly. I have heard several students throughout the week say, “This is fun! Why haven’t we been doing this before?”

I also feel as if I have connected with students more. I have the opportunity to talk to students before and after class. One of the students that is known for causing disruptions has been talking to me about his hobbies. I have also been spending time with students on an Earth Day display case in the library outside of class. One girl has told me about a very personal issue in her family that I feel I need to discuss more with her. Next week, I plan to take her aside and ask how she’s doing.

In addition to getting to know my students more, I have gotten to know the faculty and staff at the school. Yesterday, I was able to hang out with other teachers and our inclusion teacher. I have been talking and working with the librarian to do the Earth Day display, and every time I see Gilbert, the custodian, I have a conversation with him. The Earth Day project has also introduced me to the person in charge of the school grounds (planting flowers, tilling the ground, etc.). There are so many opportunities to make new friends, and these become frequent when you get involved in extracurricular projects.

I have also been observed twice this week- by April and Kim- and have received very useful feedback to help my growth. I know that when I start teaching, I won’t have these opportunities for people to observe me and provide feedback, so I am taking full advantage of it now. I also had Mike to film me during a lesson. After watching a video of myself teaching, I realize how much can be improved. This past week has been extremely hectic, but I feel that it’s provided so many opportunities for growth.

This week’s readings applied directly to what we were doing in my classroom. The students were working on a media project and presenting their final presentations Friday. Some classes did better than others focusing on the task at hand and working with their group members. Other classes constantly needed encouragement and reminders that they did not have time to be socializing or on YouTube watching the latest music videos. In one class, I just gave up trying to get everyone’s attention in the computer lab to tell them the goals of the day. Instead, I found a better alternative- making a huge agenda for everyone to see and walking around asking each group what the goal of today is and what will happen tomorrow. Because students handle inquiry projects differently, I think the instruction should be different. For example, with the honors classes, the students will sit quietly after a flicker of the lights to hear the instructions for the day. However, the inclusion classes require a more personal approach- talking to the groups one-on-one.

I’ve been frustrated with the eighth graders lately because of how much more difficult instruction has become in their class compared to the honors 7th grade class. However, this week has made me be more tolerable. The eighth graders are drastically different than the seventh graders. I don’t know why, but they are dealing with more real-life problems at just one more year older. For example, Friday, a few of our 8th graders were fearing for their lives because a group of 10th graders wanted to beat them up. I also suspect that the 8th graders have more personal issues at home than our seventh graders. I really feel as if I have connected with more students this week.

For example, the student that I had problems with harassment the last few weeks has improved. He seems to respect me now (after my talk with him) and hasn’t done anything inappropriate again. In addition, a female student with whom I have struggled to reach seems to have let down some barriers. Before, she would say only sarcastic things to me. Now, she asks me for help and seems to listen to my advice.

Overall, even though this has been a stressful week (preparing for my innovative unit), I feel as if I have reached a few students. I respect these kids, and I know that some have horrible situations that I can’t even imagine at home. By keeping this in mind at school, I might be able to make a bridge between their personal lives and their school lives.

I haven’t ranted for my blog yet, so here it goes…

I really have grown, and my husband pointed out the other day that I have gone through every stage possible. I have gone from being so mad, it made me cry; being so sad, I cried some more; to feeling angry again. Now, I’m at the acceptance stage- I can’t change other people, I can’t change the rules, and the only thing left in my power to change is…
ME!

I feel as if I have become better at putting everything into perspective. Even though life may suck now, it will be so sweet in a few months. Also, life is too short to only think about the negative things, while the good things go unnoticed. It’s graduate school- it supposed to be hard (my mantra).
On more of a rant note- the Bursar is not supposed to suck! They are in charge of thousands of dollars, yet they have no clue what they are doing! Every term, I have had to talk to financial aid, then talk to the bursar, then talk to financial aid again (because apparently they do not have telephones to communicate with each other). This has been such a painful process arguing with them to fix my account, that now, I just laugh about it. I’m now in the process of returning two refund checks and trying to remove a late fee that they said would not be applied because I should not have a balance (but still do because they calculated the numbers incorrectly). Just tonight, I was informed that my friend, who was brilliant enough to get the Noyce Scholarship, is having $4000 dollars stolen from her by the school! How does this happen? What is so difficult about adding and subtracting and typing those numbers correctly into the computers? This is the end of my rant. The bursar office is so not cool.

This week has been great. Not only am I getting to know new students and teachers, but I get to watch a colleague teach. It is very helpful to observe a teacher with similar theories and ideas. Mike has really been connecting with the students and making sure they are understanding the material. Between classes, I hear him asking the students how he could make the material more understandable for them.

Just the mere act of showing students that you care about them and want to help them succeed makes a difference. The students seem to perk up and ask more questions. I have gotten to know a few students so far, and they are so interesting. There is such a wonderful mix of personalities, interests, and styles in each classroom. I am also in love with the school. I mean, what school has professional art in every corner? I think that everyone should incorporate art into the main curriculum. Students need that outlet of creativity.

The discussion that we had this week about modifying cookbook labs was very useful, but will be more useful when I actually plan a lab again. However, I can use the ideas from the readings when I am using a hands-on activities in the classroom. As long as you keep the following quote in mind from Peters (2005), your instruction will be effective: “A worthwhile goal of a science teacher is to allow students to think and behave like scientists rather than solely learn or replicate what other scientists have already done.”

I can’t wait to start my innovative unit. These concepts are right up my alley (ecology)! I’ve taken so many ecology classes, I wonder when I had time for other subjects! Another exciting development- a librarian asked me today if I would be interested in getting students to create an Earth Day display in front of the library. What an awesome opportunity! This is going to be so much fun!!

This was my last week at my four-week placement. I am so sad to leave, but I know that this means I’m closer to being a teacher. On the last day, the students acted so sad to see me leave and demanded that I come back to visit. I plan to write an email to all the classes, so my CT can read it to them.
This week’s readings in Wiggins and McTighe made me think more deeply about “coverage” versus “uncoverage”. I really like the distinction between these two terms that emphasize the importance of students gaining understanding through their own exploration, and not just regurgitating what the teacher has taught in class. I struggled with this problem the entire time during my four-week placement. Just as many student teachers, I was torn between what my CT wanted to be taught and what I felt the students needed for their learning. It was amazing how much material had to be “covered” to prepare the student for their exams. Instead of spending adequate time on activities that helped the students take ownership of their own learning, I felt forced to move the lesson along to teach all of the material. I do feel confident that I did my best to provide experiences in which the students can take more ownership of their learning while keeping a faster pace. I also think that the students and my CT were satisfied with my teaching.
Another concept that I enjoyed reading about this week was the realization that the teacher should not be using the same teaching style all the time. Just as you should not lecture every day, you also should not expect that the students can discover every concept through exploration. In my placement, I tried to have a combination of everything- open, inquiry, activity sheets, and taking notes. Overall, I feel that this was an awesome experience, and I have truly grown as a teacher.

This week was hectic, but the students and I have had fun. Yesterday, I began a lesson that is all about the Sun. We just finished the unit on stars, and this was a good way to narrow the topic to a more relevant subject. Yesterday consisted of seven stations to which groups of three rotated every five minutes or so. Each station had hands-on investigations for the students to learn about different aspects of the Sun, instead of me just giving them notes. Everyone loved it, and their final comments on the ticket-out-the-door revealed that they learned a lot from the lesson. Though the preparation for a lesson with stations was very demanding, the work during the lesson is cut in half for the teacher. I just had to circulate, ask deeper questions, and answer questions from the students.
The readings this week about assessment were very useful during my planning and implementation of my lesson. During my planning, I kept in mind the goals that needed to be met before creating the assessments. Before the lesson, I thought about questions that needed to be asked in order to make the students think more deeply and arrive at the conclusions that met the objectives of the lesson. The questions at each station aligned with the objectives and will enable the students to be successful on the assessment.
The next couple of days in this Sun lesson will involve the students becoming “experts” at specific stations of their choice, and presenting their findings to the rest of the class. I thought it was important to give the students a station in their top three preferences to motivate them to dig deeper into an interesting subject. During the presentations, to make sure the students are paying attention to their peers, they will be given a “capture sheet” to guide their thinking about specific concepts (the concepts on which they will be assessed). Each groups’ presentation will be graded according to a rubric that they will be given before presenting. This is another important aspect of assessments that I learned from the readings- making students aware of the criteria by which they will be assessed and making the assessment fair.
Knowing what to keep in mind while creating your assessments makes the task of lesson planning much easier. I like Lisa C.’s saying from class: “It’s one thing to know how you’re going to get somewhere, but it’s more important to know where you’re going.” It makes no sense to plan a lesson without keeping in mind your objectives. Though it takes a little getting used to doing this “backward design,” it makes a teachers life easier in the end and is more beneficial for the students.