Week 12-Last Week Alone

So I am officially more or less finished with my requirements for student teaching. The 5th 6 weeks just ended so Ms. C will make her return to the classroom next week. Next week will be full of TAKS testing and chaos. I think my teaching ended on a positive note though.

So, the most memorable part of the week was on Thursday, the last day of the week because we have today off for Fiesta! The students and I learned about the history of Fiesta together (this is my first Fiesta as well!), had some Mexican snacks, listened to some music in Spanish and ended the 6 weeks with a sigh of relief that we got through it! It was also great to meet with Dr. B and Ms. C because I really felt like there was closure to my student teaching and it felt good to know that I did well and other people saw that!

I have learned SO MANY lessons about teaching, teenagers, professionalism, politics of schools, and just life in general during these past 3 months. My knowledge and ability to manage a classroom have increased 10 fold. I look back at my first day of student teaching and compare it to now and I can see concrete changes in my confidence as a teacher. However, at the same time, I don’t think I have changed my core self as a teacher or have lost that love for teaching. I still am the same person, just a little wiser and less naive. I have been able to take a lot of my ideals and theories about teaching and see just how hard it is to implement them into a real classroom. However, my student teaching experience has only made me want to continue to push those key elements I feel are important in language teaching and see to it that they become a reality in my classroom next year. I truly agree with Dr. B that speaking and culture are the 2 most important elements in a language classroom and they are the 2 things that often get pushed to the side. In my classroom next year, if I teach Spanish, those will be a priority from day one!

My teacher and I talked about time management and making time for myself and taking care of my body. I know that is going to be something I struggle with for awhile because I just give my time away so freely and I also have a lot of things on my own plate. Its such a balancing act to make lesson plans, prepare for class, tutor, grade papers, apply for jobs, develop a portfolio, go to interviews, do reflections, and make sure you have everything to graduate and get your certification! I need more hours in the day just so I can sleep I can’t imagine my life is going to get any easier as a teacher so I think I have to learn to balance my time now.

My only concern this week was the mess of having me in the classroom everyday but Ms. C in charge of putting grades in. I was really worried yesterday that something was going to go wrong with grades being due. It was hard to hear my students complain about certain assignments counting as a grade or not, a test not being fair, etc when I have no control over that aspect of the classroom.

Well, no more teaching for awhile after this but I’m sure I will still be using this blog as a resource for reflecting as REAL TEACHER!

Aqui estoy….y finalmente ME VOY! *SAB

Week 11: Trying to finish strong…

So I can’t believe that I only have one week left of teaching alone, one more week of teaching with Ms. Carrasco, and then just a few days observing. It is all going by so fast!

So this week was a very easy planning week for me. The students got a chance to work on their OPE (Oral Proficiency Exams) and their Review Guides for most of the week. The most interesting part of the week was Friday because I got to see the process of the Oral Proficiency Exams. Ms. Carrasco came back for 2nd and 3rd and did the OPEs in the hallway with them while I stayed in the classroom and made sure they stayed on task and were working. 6th hour we switch it up and I got to run the exams. It was kind of neat to see. I especially liked it because the students were actually speaking Spanish which is hard to get out of them a lot of the time.

So I learned this week the roller coaster emotions that a teacher goes through. I was so frustrated and sad at the beginning of this week because I was starting to doubt the impact of teacher can have on her students. I was frustrated because so many of my students don’t care about school and don’t see the importance. However, at the same time I was getting mad at myself because I saw that I was starting to not care as much either. I came into my student teaching with so much energy and high expectations and I couldn’t believe I was starting to let that go! However, I was reinspired by the end of the week (particularly due to my visit to a really amazing Charter school) and realized more than ever my passion to be a GOOD teacher who doesn’t ever stop caring about her students.  I know I am going to be a GREAT teacher…I just have to get a hold of that energy and passion I always had!

Ms. C and I have been talking about lots of different things. She wants me to keep thinking of ANY questions I might have for her before my student teaching ends or any resources I might need from her to make my future teaching more successful. I really appreciate all her help and support!

No major problems or concerns. I really don’t know what I am going to do when my student teaching ends. I might cry on my last day…I really am going to miss a lot of the students and hopefully will get to keep track of them (especially the Spanish 4 students) to see if they continued on with Spanish in college.

Aqui estoy and no me voy….*SAB

Week 10: I think I feel like a real teacher…

So this week was a good, short, tiring week overall. Every week just seems to blend together as I now have complete control of the classroom. My total teach ended two weeks ago but my teacher has been letting me teach without her in the classroom for the past month now. It has been great practice because I really do feel like it is my classroom now (for the most part).

The most exciting part of this week was actually giving a quiz (weird, right?). I say this because after spending two weeks with the students on Usted and Ustedes formal commands, we decided to formally assess them to make sure they truly were learning what I was teaching. Sure enough, almost all of them got an A or a B on the quiz! This was such a good feeling because the quiz they took over Tu commands the first two weeks were not so good! Like I said before, I think I forget that students need repetition and a chance to practice what they are learning A LOT and they got a lot more chances to use and practice the commands then they did the first time around.

I am learning as a foreign language teacher that it is really easy to give up on students and it takes so much time and commitment to make sure that you are giving every student lots of chances to succeed. There are quite a few students in my class that have given up on themselves and it is hard not to give up on them too. It is easy to put in extra time and tutoring for a student who is struggling but at least has the desire to learn but it is harder to do the same for a student who doesn’t have any motivation to do well. However, it is NEVER my job to let go of a student and I need to continue to help them even if it seems impossible. It is difficult because I am human but as long as I am aware of it and am at least trying, that is all I can ask of myself.

My host teacher and I have talked about my difficulties with 3rd hour and what we can do to make it better. I am trying my hardest to come to class everyday with a new attitude and not create my own self fulfilling prophecy but I do get worn out in that class. I am going to take Dr. Bond’s advice and tell the students each day what we are going to “shoot for” and try to give them goals to work on. I truly do like the students and want them to succeed so I don’t think I am trying to “look for a problem” by any means. I am staying positive!

I don’t have any problems or concerns as far as my teaching goes. I really like being in the classroom by myself because I feel like that it is the only way to truly get comfortable and start to feel like a real teacher. And I do for the most part! I do feel like some of the students won’t take me 100% seriously because I am the student teacher and they already know my age. I think it will be better when I am the classroom teacher because they won’t assume I am really young because they won’t know I am still in college. I know the way I dress plays a part in it but I do almost always  try to dress professionally with my limited wardrobe. I try to take advantage of being able to wear jeans and black on Fridays/before holidays like the rest of the staff because I am trying to blend in. I really am trying…

The weeks are counting down….I can’t believe its coming to an end already….

Aqui estoy y no me voy. *SAB

Week 8 and 9: Busy Busy Busy!

So this week was exciting, busy, and nerve wrecking all at the same time. I am on week two of my total teach and I am learning so much!

The most exciting/craziest day of the week was Thursday. I managed to pull off a very interactive lesson with the students and I really think they enjoyed it. There was a lot of planning involved to pull it off but it paid off in the end. It was so exciting to see how excited the students were to do a hands on lesson. It also made me feel good when the students were actually able to see what was happening in regards to the commands as we created the rules together.

I am learning that if you want your students to truly understand something, they have to practice practice practice. A lot of the students were upset that they didn’t do very well on their TU quiz (as was I) but I guess I realize that a lot more informal accessment needs to take place to make sure I know they understood it. They need to use what we are learning more!

My teacher and I are constantly talking. We talk a lot about time management and the importance of making sure you have enough time to get through everything in the short period.

I have no major problems of concerns. Its so weird though that I only have 5 weeks left of student teaching. Its going way to fast!

——–

Week 9  was a good week overall. The best part of the week was the beginning of the week when the students were able to design their own health ads. They got to pick a partner in the lab and choose a health related topic to give advice about. Some of them did healthy eating campaigns, no-smoking ads, anti-drug campaigns, sports ads, etc. They were giving the day in the lab to collect their pictures, type their commands (their advice on what young people should and shouldn’t do) and have them looked over by the teacher. On Tuesday, the students got the day in the classroom to put their poster board together and finish the project. On Wednesday, each group presented their ad to the class.

I am learning that it is a lot more exciting for the students when they can actually use what they are learning and can do something a lot more relevant and interesting. I think the projects went over really well and I was happy to see the results.

My teacher and I talked a lot about interviewing, school districts I might want to work for, etc. since I went to the TSU job fair on Wednesday. This is a very exciting time for me right now because I am trying to get a teaching job for next school year. I just hope everything works out!

No major problems or concerns

Aqui estoy y no me voy…*SAB

Week 7: All Alone in the Classroom!!

This week was quite an interesting experience to say the least. I really enjoyed finally taking over and starting to teach on my own. Its kind of nerve wrecking and exciting all at the same time!

The most interesting part of my week was starting to take over the classroom on Wednesday. Monday we were in the computer lab and Tuesday the students performed skits they wrote the week before. However, on Wednesday Ms. C started to leave me alone in the classroom. My lesson went really well on Wednesday (I used more manipulatives) and the students seemed to understand the concept I was teaching. Thursday didn’t go quite as planned because we ran out of time and didn’t get to cover everything I wanted. However, it was a good because I had to think on my feet and come up with a new game plan! Friday was a good test as well because I had to make a new seating chart for the new 6 weeks and try to figure out where students needed to be so they won’t be a distraction to the other students. I played a version of Around the World with the students for their warm up to review the Tu commands and while it wasn’t exactly as exciting as I had planned I think the students like that I am trying new things out with them to see what works and what doesn’t.

I am learning as a foreign language teacher the importance of time management and how hard it is to get a lot done in a 50 minute period. It is interesting how much disruptive behavior in one class can put them 5-10 minutes behind the other classes. It is also interesting how different classes respond differently to different teachers. My host teacher always said that 2nd and 3rd hour were her best classes but interesting enough it is 6th hour that listens to me better than any other hour. I was shocked on Friday at how quiet they were and how quickly they finished their work. I made sure to tell them at the end of the hour how pleased I was with their behavior and how nice it was to see everyone working so hard.

My host teacher and I have been talking a lot about the steps a teacher has to take when their is a problem with a particular student. I have been having  some respect/behavior issues with a few students and didn’t know what action I should take. After conferencing with them one on one, and after their coaches had already been notified earlier in the semester, Ms. C and I decided that we would contact their parents. I got to sit down and write an email to one student’s mother which was a good experience for me. I really like how much my teacher includes me in all the aspects of being a teacher and does her best to help me develop this side of my teaching.

I have no major problems or concerns right now. I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed as to all the things I have to start doing to prepare for getting a job on top of taking over the classroom. I know everything will get done and will work out but this is still a very stressful time of the year!

Aqui estoy y no me voy. Sigo nadando nadando…

*SAB

Week Six-Ready, Set, Go!

So this week was good overall but there was so much to finish up before the end of the 6 weeks and before spring break.

The most boring part of the week was sitting in a classroom for 6 hours watching students take the English TAKS. However, it was a great learning experience to see the process of it and how serious state testing is taken here at Northside.

The most interesting part of the week was on Thursday and Friday when I got to teach the class and do a follow up activity for it. Thursday’s grammar teach went well and I think I am getting used to being up in front of the class. I did another skit to introduce the students to the new concept and it actually worked out very well. Students were able to see indirect and direct objects in context and create rules together for sentence order and changes that occur. I was very excited to see how well that form of teaching worked! My host teacher also commented on how well I explained everything and how well it went! Friday was a good day too. I really appreciate all the feedback I have been getting from both my teacher and supervisor.

I learned this week as a foreign language teacher how hard it is to cover everything you are expected to teach and how you are always crunched for time. My teacher and I really wanted to do something more fun and culturally related before spring break but everything got pushed back so far due to testing. However, I really would like to prioritize culture and hands on activties in my future classroom and try to always make room for them no matter what!

I don’t have any problems or concerns really. I am worried about how my unit plan is going to fall into place. I have lots of great ideas, I just hope they all come together to make a great unit. I am going to start on Wednesday for the new chapter.

Aqui estoy y no me voy. Still swimming. -SAB

 

 

Monday: Lab?- 2 articles

Tuesday: TAKS Testing

Wednesday: Catch Up day

Thursday: Grammar Teach

Friday: Dialogues

Week 5-Wow that long already?

So over all, I think this week went better than expected. There was a lot of preparing involved but since two of the days they were taking their binder and 6 week test, the class itself was pretty easy. I really love the relationships I am building with some of the students. They are so interested in my life!

I don’t know if I could pinpoint just one highlight of the week because I feel like there were a lot! However, I really enjoyed organizing a review game for the students in Spanish 2 because it was a lot more fun than usual. I think I would play Spanish related games all day long in the classroom if I could.

Today was a really fun day in Spanish 4. My host teacher and I were trying to think of a way to get the students to talk more so we decided to have a debate. Since she was gone today, I got to do everything for it and it went really well! The students were given a sheet with facts about the bailout and key vocab words in Spanish to help them talk about the economic crisis. I asked them if they thought that the responsibility lied on the people or on the government to fix the economic problems. They really enjoyed talking about it and got them to practice expressing their ideas in Spanish!

I’m learning how truly valuable and meaningful the relationships you build with your students are. I value the relationships I have in my personal life and I can see how important they are in my professional life as well. So many students have been coming to me before school and during lunch for tutoring and extra help and I can tell they really appreciate the extra time I am willing to give to them. The other day I spent lunch with one of my students talking about politics and our views on helping other and yesterday after school my student and I spent an hour talking about colleges and his future plans. I love young people!

My teacher and I have been communicating more and I am trying to be more open about my expectations! I told her I really have been trying to work on my classroom management and she has responded by giving me lots of opportunities to practice and support with it. She still has a little trouble balancing the positive with the negative comments but I think she is trying!

I really have no problems or concerns right now, I’m just really excited to do my 2 week unit after spring break!

Swimming like a dolphin, not treading water…

*SAB

Week 4-Learning, learning

So this week was a huge learning experience for me. It was basically my first full week running the classroom and it was not always easy. However, I feel a lot more comfortable taking charge of the class now and feel like the students are starting to see me as the teacher figure.

The highlight of the week was running the classroom on Thursday and Friday while we had a sub. The sub basically just took role and then sat back and watched. It was really hard at times because I had to be teaching, managing the classroom, observing the students, and helping them all at the same time. I felt like I needed 5 more of me to get the job done! The students were also trying to see how much they could get away with while my host teacher was gone. It was frustrating at times because it seemed like no matter how many times I asked nicely, there were still students who could not motivate themselves to do their work. However, it is amazing how much you can learn when you are by yourself running the classroom and can’t turn to your host teacher for additional support. Overall, even though I had a headache at times, my classroom management skills are improving and I am learning a lot in that area.

This week I learned that it is so important to be consistent about rules and even though it is hard at times to say “no” students truly do need consistency in the classroom. I understand why my teacher often doesn’t let students go to the bathroom unless it is work time because it really does create a domino effect where every student in the class suddenly needs to go as well.

My teacher and I didn’t get to talk a lot this week because she was gone for most of it, but I can see that she is starting to trust me with more responsibilities. I think she was really hesitant to let go and let me take over, but I think she is starting to see I am capable of running the class.

I don’t have any new problems or concerns, just still working out the old ones. I hope now that basketball season is officially over, there will be more time for planning and conferencing. She mentioned that she will have more time to work after school so I am eager to see how that works out.

On a side note, I really enjoy the ESL Reading class I have been working with, the kids are amazing! They really like having me in the classroom and respond well to my teaching. Two of the boys from Mexico figured out that I spoke Spanish (don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing) so now they have a new found interest in me. I told them though that in English class we practice English, but they are more than welcome to come to my Spanish class and speak Spanish!

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…

*SAB

Week Three-I’m learning…

So this week has probably been one of the hardest/frustrating weeks so far. I don’t want to sound totally negative, I mean, it hasn’t been horrible, but I’ve definitely been tested. I guess I’m just looking at the expectations I had before coming into student teaching and comparing them to my student teaching and seeing a lot of gaps.

Thursday was probably the biggest day of the week for me. I basically ran the class that day and planned the entire lesson. The students were learning indirect object pronouns (me, te, le, nos, les) and how to use them. I spent a lot of time on Wednesday night pondering how I was going to teach the lesson and really didn’t finalize anything until that morning. I really wanted to use the students in my teaching, to make it more interactive, but I didn’t know how my teacher would respond to it. I finally decided I would introduce the students to the concept through a mini skit they would perform using the scripted cards I gave them. After, we would collectively develop the grammar rules for the i.o. pronouns. However, after the first class, my teacher told me that I shouldn’t do the “skit” until after the grammar rules were given. I didn’t particularly agree with her, but I switched it anyways. The second class went okay, but I was a little flustered from having my lesson switched around. At the end of the class, my teacher basically had a “1000s things I could improve upon ” list that was a bit overwhelming to me. I didn’t know how to handle all the negative comments so I pretty much was bummed out during my free hour. By lunch time, my teacher kept asking me how I thought it had went, but I had trouble expressing myself to her. In any case, I tried to listen to her advice, and felt like 6th hour (which usually is the hardest class) actually went the best. The students actually all understood everything I said! Amazing right? To rap it all up, I am learning that if I want to survive this experience, I have to try not to absorb all the negative comments my teacher tells me, try to pull out the useful ones, try to improve, and learn for next time.

I learned a lot as a foreign language teacher this week. I learned that there are a lot of different ways to teach and there isn’t just one right way. To be successful in a current environment, sometimes you have to do it the way they are used to having it done. When in Rome, sometimes you have to act like a Roman. Even when you know you would never normally do something a certain way, sometimes it truly is the best way.

My teacher told me I should try to not get so defensive and to take criticism not so harshly. She said that as a student teacher, I only can improve, so I shouldn’t expect to be perfect on the first try. It made a lot of sense when she put it like that.

This week has been full of problems/concerns. I feel like there is a lack of communication between my host teacher and me. I just realized that my teacher never asked me at the beginning of student teaching what my goals and expectations were. She doesn’t take the time to ask me how I would do something or take the extra time to plan lessons with me. I think she is just so used to doing something a particular way, she isn’t willing to break it down for me or take the time to do the “slow” planning that first year teachers have to do. She usually just assumes I know something (bad assumption) and gets easily frustrated when I don’t (even though I don’t think I’m suppose to know everything, I am a student teacher after all).  I am really good at following directions but I am really bad at reading minds.

I just hope we can work out the communication issue. It seems to be the root of my frustration.

Aqui estoy y no me voy. -SAB

Week Two-Itching to take over!

I have made it through over 2 weeks of student teaching! I feel like I’ve been here forever! Next week, I will start in teaching some of the classes! No se’ si estoy completamente lista….

So, to recap this week I would say that I really started building some good relationships with some of the students. Others I know will probably never come around, but I can at least feel good that a lot of the students are interested in my life, are starting to trust me, and know that I really want them to do well.

I also made it my goal to speak more Spanish to the students (even if they weren’t speaking it with each other, the teacher or back to me). I am trying to get them used to hearing it, which they actually respond pretty well to. I think they are starting to see that I will repeat it 5 times in Spanish before finally saying it in English, and if they listen carefully enough they can probably figure out what I am saying. Baby steps!

I am also trying to make it a priority to spend some time working with a few of the girls in the class that truly are trying but say they are just dumb. Some students have complete mental blocks up to Spanish (and learning and general) and I’m sure they have been told numerous times that they are lazy and stupid by someone in their life. Trying to break that self esteem issue is so hard, but at least they know I am willing to work with them as much as they need.

The best day of the week was seeing how the listening lab worked and getting to do the listening exercises with them. I felt a lot more apart of the class and more involved. I think its really neat that the high school has a language lab just for foreign languages! I wish my high school had something like that. I used to read listening passages during exams in the Spanish 101 class I taught at CMU, so I was used to reading slow and enunciating all the words. However, its hard to know HOW slow one should read something, and I was told a few times by my host teacher to SLOW DOWN I think by 6th period I had developed a nice slow pace. Next time, I will definitely be a lot more conscience of my speed since she only reads it to them one time (I’m used to letting them hear it twice).

I am learning to always smile and keep a positive face. Students notice when you are in a bad mood or appear tired, and they take everything personal. They think your exhustion = frustration. I try to smile whenever something I say could appear as a negative comment. The students are happier when you’re happier!

My teacher told me last week that I always need to be careful about the way I behave or how you treat other people in the school. She said that you never know who you will need help from or who might be making a decision that could affect your job. She mentioned one coach/teacher who isn’t going to get the PE job she wants because she has burned too many bridges with the people that now have the say in who gets the position.  Always treat people with respect!

My only concern is the amount of say I am going to have in lesson planning over the next few weeks. I want to work more with my teacher to do more team teaching, but I am having a little trouble speaking out with my ideas. I get nervous telling her a new idea I have and don’t know how to step in to give my opinion. Ideas?

That’s all for now….hasta la semana que viene….nos vemos

*Aqui estoy y no me voy -SAB