Today the honors classes got their Document Based Question tests back and many of them were discouraged. It is a new concept for the honors students and even though Mr. Carl told them that they should come in before Enrichment for help, only two out of both classes did. However, Mr. Carl and I both felt that it was important to give students the chance to redo questions they had scored poorly on so that they could move toward more mastery learning. If a student fails a test and then you move on, they obviously did not learn anything. I am not completely sold on letting them retake the test for the exact same amount of credit, but I do think it is important that they correct mistakes and learn the material before moving on. Especially with the DBQ tests, because it is a skill that is built upon over the year until they get to where they can write five paragraph essays for a document analysis question in preparation for the AP exam.
The Feel the History class started doing research and I could tell which groups were passionate and which ones are already starting to slack off. In a class like this, it is important that there is a lot of focus and drive to get the job done, since there is a lot of independent research.
I take over teaching the regular History classes tomorrow and I am feeling pretty good about my lesson I have for the next few days. I also ran an idea by Mr. Carl about giving the honors classes a project in an upcoming unit, but leaving up how they present/display the information or skill of what they know up to them. It is an idea I am working on and based on the hypothesis that when students are given the freedom to show you what they know by being able to display it how they want to, you will get a better end result. I am looking forward to working on putting that project together and starting to teach tomorrow.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
8/28 Blue Day/Open House
I put together a bundle in My Big Campus using videos Mr. Carl's Feel the History class had made so that are students could look at the Captains of Evansville industry when we looked at Big Business. The corporation is really pushing My Big Campus and it seems to work well, however the students netbooks are unreliable. I really like how Mr. Carl brings in a lot of Evansville history whenever we look at the units for our classes. The students definitely find it more interesting if there are learning information that they can identify with places and people they know from around town. It is a skill I hope to be able to develop and master wherever I end up teaching.
At the beginning of both classes I thought it was important to go over what segregation was and the Reconstruction amendments. I felt it was important because in looking over the quizzes I noticed that it was missed by most of the class. I felt that this was a time where I could use the quiz as a formative assessment before the larger test at the end of the unit. I want to try and come up with some formative assessments throughout the units that I teach so I can see what I need to go over and build a test bank for the end of unit quiz.
Open House was a new experience, but I felt that it went well. Parents had the option to come in over a two hour period and do a meet and greet. I felt a little awkward because I was the student teacher, but I talked to most of the parents that came in. I know that at my high school the parents follow a bell schedule and go to each class for about ten minutes. I know that its easier for parents to be able to show up during a two hour window instead of a start time, but it does make it harder when parents come in to keep giving the same introduction and have more parents walk in while you are talking to a few already. The turn out was decent for a high school open house and I felt that it was a good experience.
At the beginning of both classes I thought it was important to go over what segregation was and the Reconstruction amendments. I felt it was important because in looking over the quizzes I noticed that it was missed by most of the class. I felt that this was a time where I could use the quiz as a formative assessment before the larger test at the end of the unit. I want to try and come up with some formative assessments throughout the units that I teach so I can see what I need to go over and build a test bank for the end of unit quiz.
Open House was a new experience, but I felt that it went well. Parents had the option to come in over a two hour period and do a meet and greet. I felt a little awkward because I was the student teacher, but I talked to most of the parents that came in. I know that at my high school the parents follow a bell schedule and go to each class for about ten minutes. I know that its easier for parents to be able to show up during a two hour window instead of a start time, but it does make it harder when parents come in to keep giving the same introduction and have more parents walk in while you are talking to a few already. The turn out was decent for a high school open house and I felt that it was a good experience.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
8/27 Grey Day Willard Library
I started off the beginning of the day by being able to attend a My Big Campus training during my Plan period. Even though I had stuff that I was hoping to get done I did learn a lot about MBC and I know that I will be using it in the future. It was a great experience to get some free professional development with a tool I know millions of users are adapting in K-12.
After deciding that my lesson yesterday contained too much information I decided to cut it by about half. Mr. Carl reviewed some of the reading with the class and then I picked up at working conditions and the formation of unions. Even though I cut my content in half I still was able to teach for a good portion of time as the kids stayed interested and got involved in the discussions as well as the examples. I felt a lot better about the lesson.
The Willard library trip was a lot of fun. The students were able to get a feel for the archives section and begin to look up some information on their topics. The online newspaper database that is keyword searchable will make the research a lot easier. Many of the students had a lot of fun with the old yearbooks from years past, including myself. After this class, the next part of the semester will be focused on getting together research and items for the documentaries.
In planning for my immigration lesson on Friday I decided to add a lot of content and activities, but to make a time guide for when I give the lesson. I have enough material and activities to do with the students that I know I should not have to worry about being short, however I want to make sure there is enough there for the entire period. What is nice is that I know by watching the time that I can cut out certain items of the lesson on the fly if we do not have enough time and add more if we are running faster than expected. I am excited and a little nervous to take over the class on Friday, but I think my immigration lesson will be a great start.
After deciding that my lesson yesterday contained too much information I decided to cut it by about half. Mr. Carl reviewed some of the reading with the class and then I picked up at working conditions and the formation of unions. Even though I cut my content in half I still was able to teach for a good portion of time as the kids stayed interested and got involved in the discussions as well as the examples. I felt a lot better about the lesson.
The Willard library trip was a lot of fun. The students were able to get a feel for the archives section and begin to look up some information on their topics. The online newspaper database that is keyword searchable will make the research a lot easier. Many of the students had a lot of fun with the old yearbooks from years past, including myself. After this class, the next part of the semester will be focused on getting together research and items for the documentaries.
In planning for my immigration lesson on Friday I decided to add a lot of content and activities, but to make a time guide for when I give the lesson. I have enough material and activities to do with the students that I know I should not have to worry about being short, however I want to make sure there is enough there for the entire period. What is nice is that I know by watching the time that I can cut out certain items of the lesson on the fly if we do not have enough time and add more if we are running faster than expected. I am excited and a little nervous to take over the class on Friday, but I think my immigration lesson will be a great start.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Monday 8/26 First observation day
Today was my first observation day and I felt that it went decently well for my first time. I spent my plan period prepping for my lesson and I think the first run through was a little rough. I had thought that I would go through my presentation during the first 45 minutes before my first class went to lunch and then they would have the video on the homestead strike when they returned. I felt that I got very worried about the time and I rushed through my presentation. I did not hit as many talking points as I wanted to and when I tried to get the class involved it did not go as well as planned. Many of the kids did not seem very interested. I stumbled over some points and I ended up ending about 10-15 minutes too early. At lunch I talked to Mr. Carl about making some more points and slowing down. He gave me some ideas on talking points and discussion starters. It was really helpful to have that trial run before my observation and perfect my lesson. I have always felt that the more I do a lesson the better it goes which can be a disservice sometimes to the beginning periods of students.
My second class during my observation went much better. I slowed down the material a lot more, made many more talking points, did a much better job involving the class and at the end I felt that I covered the material much better. However, I did find that by the end students were a little fatigued. Todays schedule was a little off to me since I was teaching for 35-40 minutes and then Mr. Carl was taking the video. I felt that I needed to teach the whole time and that I did not have enough time to teach and have a meaningful activity, but I wanted to be teaching the entire time for my observation. In reflecting on it with Mr. Carl we both came to the conclusion that it was a little long and too much information. While I did get the kids involved in some discussion and asked questions, having to be an active and engaged listener for 40 minutes is tough for anyone. I definitely had decided that I could have split my presentation up into two different presentations with more activities or breaks in the information. I was a little discouraged but at this point I know it was my first real day teaching material and I will be reflecting in order to do better next time. I want to find ways to keep the students more engaged and less time for me just talking.
Thinking about it later, I also thought that I need to include more of an emphasis on historical scope and empathy. Explaining that there is more than one way at looking at a historical event or concept. I think this is an important skill that I need to put some more time in developing with the students. Overall, however, I felt that the first observation went well and I know where I stand and where I can improve.
My second class during my observation went much better. I slowed down the material a lot more, made many more talking points, did a much better job involving the class and at the end I felt that I covered the material much better. However, I did find that by the end students were a little fatigued. Todays schedule was a little off to me since I was teaching for 35-40 minutes and then Mr. Carl was taking the video. I felt that I needed to teach the whole time and that I did not have enough time to teach and have a meaningful activity, but I wanted to be teaching the entire time for my observation. In reflecting on it with Mr. Carl we both came to the conclusion that it was a little long and too much information. While I did get the kids involved in some discussion and asked questions, having to be an active and engaged listener for 40 minutes is tough for anyone. I definitely had decided that I could have split my presentation up into two different presentations with more activities or breaks in the information. I was a little discouraged but at this point I know it was my first real day teaching material and I will be reflecting in order to do better next time. I want to find ways to keep the students more engaged and less time for me just talking.
Thinking about it later, I also thought that I need to include more of an emphasis on historical scope and empathy. Explaining that there is more than one way at looking at a historical event or concept. I think this is an important skill that I need to put some more time in developing with the students. Overall, however, I felt that the first observation went well and I know where I stand and where I can improve.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Grey Day Friday 8/23
I spent my Plan period on Friday putting together some materials for the first part of the class that I will be teaching on Monday. I spent the period putting together some materials for a Powerpoint on industrialization and the formation of labor unions. The hardest part for me is deciding what information I should be using, but referring to the standards helps to cut down on the decisions.
The first US History honors class seemed to like the activity regarding looking at pictures of industry in Evansville during the industrial revolution. Many of them became frustrated because there was not an easily identifiable right answer. It was interesting to see the students struggle, and Mr. Carl and I talked about how it is important that students sometimes struggle when trying to find the answer. So many students today have become used to the idea that they will just be given the right answer. I was also able to talk to the students about sending me an email with information about themselves in order to complete my seating chart with personal information about each student. I found in high school that teachers who took an interest in what I did outside of their classroom were always the best teachers I had.
Feel the History watched a few more documentaries and decided which topics they would use. The last class went through the same lesson plan as the first US History Honors class with the same results. The end of the day was the first pep assembly for the football game that evening. It was fun to see all of the students and teachers participate in the pep assembly. There was a lot of energy at the end of the day and I was glad to be a part of it.
The first US History honors class seemed to like the activity regarding looking at pictures of industry in Evansville during the industrial revolution. Many of them became frustrated because there was not an easily identifiable right answer. It was interesting to see the students struggle, and Mr. Carl and I talked about how it is important that students sometimes struggle when trying to find the answer. So many students today have become used to the idea that they will just be given the right answer. I was also able to talk to the students about sending me an email with information about themselves in order to complete my seating chart with personal information about each student. I found in high school that teachers who took an interest in what I did outside of their classroom were always the best teachers I had.
Feel the History watched a few more documentaries and decided which topics they would use. The last class went through the same lesson plan as the first US History Honors class with the same results. The end of the day was the first pep assembly for the football game that evening. It was fun to see all of the students and teachers participate in the pep assembly. There was a lot of energy at the end of the day and I was glad to be a part of it.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
8/22 Blue Day
I started off my day with narrowing down exactly what I would be teaching and when I would be taking over. I know that Monday I will be teaching about labor unions and working conditions during industrialization for about 30 minutes. Next, Friday I will be taking over the regular US History classes full time and I will need to be ready with lessons on urbanization and activities. Needless to say I have a busy weekend coming up.
Plan period and Enrichment consisted of me spending most of my time working on my own work and starting to make a seating chart where I put the kids interests and activities down in order to get to know who they are. I think making these connections is important to students. I also found time to volunteer to help with Homecoming and set up a time to observe a Government class since I will be licensed to teach Government as well.
There was confusion with having students email me there information so I clarified how they should email me at the beginning of the period. I received many more emails after that, but not all of them. I figured it was a very easy task that students would do immediately, but some are not interested or do not use their netbook.
I put together a quiz for the last period class on My Big Campus, instead of paper and pencil to get some practice using MBC. I was really shocked at how long it took to get kids online, signed in, and many of them did not have the netbook or it was not charged. What I hoped would take 5-10 minutes end up taking almost 45 minutes. This was a good learning experience and it was the first time using the new technology. I think from now on I will have a slide up on the board that has students log into their netbook and MBC account before the class starts.
I think I will continue to try and use technology with the netbooks, however many of them do not work well and the students do not seem to want to use them anymore. As Jon said, we have passed the technology being cool stage. Most of the students have phones in their pockets that are faster and can do more than their netbooks. I am going to find this kind of challenging, but I hope to find ways to make it more interesting in the future.
Plan period and Enrichment consisted of me spending most of my time working on my own work and starting to make a seating chart where I put the kids interests and activities down in order to get to know who they are. I think making these connections is important to students. I also found time to volunteer to help with Homecoming and set up a time to observe a Government class since I will be licensed to teach Government as well.
There was confusion with having students email me there information so I clarified how they should email me at the beginning of the period. I received many more emails after that, but not all of them. I figured it was a very easy task that students would do immediately, but some are not interested or do not use their netbook.
I put together a quiz for the last period class on My Big Campus, instead of paper and pencil to get some practice using MBC. I was really shocked at how long it took to get kids online, signed in, and many of them did not have the netbook or it was not charged. What I hoped would take 5-10 minutes end up taking almost 45 minutes. This was a good learning experience and it was the first time using the new technology. I think from now on I will have a slide up on the board that has students log into their netbook and MBC account before the class starts.
I think I will continue to try and use technology with the netbooks, however many of them do not work well and the students do not seem to want to use them anymore. As Jon said, we have passed the technology being cool stage. Most of the students have phones in their pockets that are faster and can do more than their netbooks. I am going to find this kind of challenging, but I hope to find ways to make it more interesting in the future.
8/21 Grey Day
Mr. Carl was back for the Grey Day with the honors classes and Feel the History. I told him how everything went and I felt that I handled the class pretty well with while he was gone. After talking about the tweaking I did to the lesson plan, we decided to use the crash course history video to go over Reconstruction and stop it at certain sections in the video to go over critical points. I think this was an effective strategy for the honors classes, but at the end it might have been better to have more of a follow up in order to make sure all of the key concepts had stuck. However, it did leave time for Mr. Carl to hand out the DBQ (document based questions) assignment, which is a staple of the Honors History program at Reitz. The students study documents and answer questions, eventually working towards writing five paragraph essays by the second semester.
The Feel the History class took a field trip to USI. They met the main archivist at the University and she went over the various online resources that were available as well as the archive. The new tool that was really cool is that all of the past newspapers in Indiana have been turned into digital resources from the microfilm and are searchable by keywords in an online database. That is going to make research for the documentaries a lot easier and give much more time for more editing and interviews. It was also important to see how to facilitate this type of connection and trip from the teacher standpoint and how important it is to make sure students are responsible in a class with as much freedom as being able to drive somewhere on your own.
The Feel the History class took a field trip to USI. They met the main archivist at the University and she went over the various online resources that were available as well as the archive. The new tool that was really cool is that all of the past newspapers in Indiana have been turned into digital resources from the microfilm and are searchable by keywords in an online database. That is going to make research for the documentaries a lot easier and give much more time for more editing and interviews. It was also important to see how to facilitate this type of connection and trip from the teacher standpoint and how important it is to make sure students are responsible in a class with as much freedom as being able to drive somewhere on your own.
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