The first Monday of the school year got off to a great start. I was glad that the first week of students was a short one in order to get my feet wet before going an entire week. I worked on looking into topics for the Feel the History class during my Plan period. The first class was a U.S. History Honors class and the lesson Mr. Carl and I used was very similar to the one from Friday with a few more minor wrinkles. We covered the Civil War in four minutes in a little more detail and the students seemed more engaged, as well as asked more questions. I was able to lead the rewrite of the Gettysburg Address activity. I felt that the activity went really well as I split the class up into four different groups and then split the Gettysburg Address up into four parts as well. I showed the class how to try and pick out the main idea of their section and continued to walk around and help them throughout the activity. I really wanted my passion for history and for the activity to show through so I tried putting myself out there and getting really into reading the Gettysburg Address. I also demonstrated to the students how I wanted them to "bring it" when they read their rewrite and use emphasis. I feel that public speaking is something that should be practiced in every class. I think the students really fed off of my enthusiasm and excitement and we were able to have some fun when comparing the words of "conceived in liberty" to baby Liberty. Overall, I felt really good about the activity and Mr. Carl was able to pick up some of the important parts I might have missed as we taught together. The class ended with assigning the homework through My Big Campus, which was also my idea and I am interested to see how well that goes.
The Feel the History class was interesting. Mr. Carl went over how Ken Burns researches and what he puts into his documentary. There were two students that Mr. Carl and I have been worried about from day one, because in this class the students go out and meet with people of the community using Mr. Carl's name and Reitz High School. The two students in particular seem to just want to take the class so they can leave school and today they again showed these colors by being late and not paying attention at all during class. A follow up is going to have to be done with the student, Mr. Carl, and the principal on expectations and whether the class is really going to be for them. The other parts of the class went well and it was nice to start getting some feedback from the class on that topics they want to explore. It is challenging because many of the obvious topics have been done in years past, but there are some good ideas circulating on what to cover this semester. I tried to pitch the importance of a hook by using my analogy with ESPN 30 for 30 go to line, "What if I told you..." as what brings the audience in. I think the class got the idea and Mr. Carl followed me up with that in his explanation of finding what is interesting about a topic. I also was able to witness the behind the scenes of teaching when a conservative father had to pull his daughter from the class because she does not drive and he does not feel comfortable having her ride with someone else. Mr. Carl offered to drive and the female student was an asset to the class, but the complications coupled with the realization of the workload on top of her AP classes did not work. It was unfortunate, but important for me to see how the parent relationship plays a role.
The last class went even better than the first in my opinion. The students are getting tired at the end of the day, but the groups came to the main idea conclusion in the Gettysburg Address faster than the other groups. I was pleased with their effort and I want to keep building on using the excitement and passion in class to fuel students effort.
Tomorrow Mr. Carl will be covering Reconstruction and I will be assisting. I am hoping to continue to take a larger role in the teaching responsibilities of day to day until the time comes for me to take over the class completely. Tomorrow, will also be my first experience helping with APEX during enrichment, which is credit recovery for students.
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