Week 6
Week 6 in the books! This week, I did my edTPA lessons and my college supervisor came to observe me! Talk about a stressful week :( My brain is in overdrive making connections between my lesson plans and edTPA rubric demands. To be honest, I'm feeling overwhelmed and very stressed. My daughter looked at me the other day and said, "I miss Mommy." I just about drowned the world in my tears. I'm overwhelmed, I'm stressed, I'm exhausted, and I miss spending time with my kids! I'm so busy writing lesson plans, grading, doing homework, stressing about the edTPA, and creating materials for lessons, that I have zero free time. I'm really feeling the weight of this undertaking this week. I've had to tell myself "One day at a time" at least 50 times this week.
Aside from that, we had a half day on Friday and did not switch classes on Wednesday due to an assembly and Mustang Celebration. This week we finished up the unit on the Early Americans. I am currently in the middle of designing their exam by taking questions directly from the work we have been doing over the past couple of weeks. I have also created a research project for them to complete. It's actually pretty cool! There is a chart with 12 boxes. The kids have to choose one specific tribe and research information to complete each box. This project tasks the students with finding out what region the tribe lived in, the location, the natural resources utilized, the type of home, the kind of clothes, describing a ceremony or festival, what kind of art the tribe is known for creating, for some examples. If the students take the project a step further and create something of cultural importance ( for example: a model of a longhouse or a 3D model of a totem pole, etc..) they will receive extra credit.
My cooperating teacher has been back in the room during classes for longer stretches of time. It came to our attention that the students that are in the other blocks, aside from our homeroom students, are not very familiar with her because I have been doing the majority of the teaching since the school year began. We thought it would be a good idea if she started to spend more time in the classroom with us because soon we will begin the transition into her teaching more, and me teaching less. The students will need time to transition from my style of teaching to hers so it's not such a shock when I move on to my high school placement.
This week I have really been feeling the stress of managing lessons, grading, and designing assessments. I realize just how time consuming it is, and the importance of KEEPING EVERY MATERIAL YOU CREATE! It is not known when one will have the opportunity to use it again. Keeping that in mind, I have created a file at my home strictly for keeping lesson materials. I plan to continue this when I move on to my next placement, and then again as I start my career. I will just keep adding materials (labeled by unit and grade level, of course) to my file so it's there if I need it again. Also, it could always be used by other teachers looking to change up their lessons! Sharing resources is also common and useful among teachers, I have learned!
Schmidt Chapter 8
1. This chapter is perfect for me. considering I currently teach 5th grade social studies and will me moving on to World History with my sophomores in three weeks! The concept that history is full of strange happenings and gossip worthy tales of betrayal and loss is THE REASON I WANT TO TEACH IT! I always felt growing up that my History courses focused too much on the dates and answering questions in the back of the book, just like the Schmidt text refers to on page 165. I always felt the interesting parts of history were MISSING from classes! The text references the increase in interest level when you tell a class of 5th graders an interesting, gross, or shocking revelation about a person, place, or time. I can assure you, IT WORKS! In our unit on Native Americans that we are currently finishing up, several of my students referenced the movie "Pocahontas". When I told them she was a real person, and that the movies got some details wrong- they were BEGGING for more information.My favorite line of this chapter is "You need to make dead people talk". It's perfection, and exactly how I feel. Answering the questions in the back of a book is NOT going to give students a picture of how history felt, sounded, or smelled like! This is my mission in my career. To bring history to life for my students! This chapter DID five me some ideas for my own teaching that I cannot wait to implement! I love the idea of a classroom covered floor to ceiling in historical artifacts and photos. I want to implement a cork board in the back of the room that the students and I can use to make a collage or something of the topic we're studying. That would be awesome! Also, I like the Madera Method idea about a full immersion approach to history. I also love the idea of publishing the research work that students have done. Another idea I want to implement in my classroom is historic simulations. Why tell a student what it was like, when you can make it REAL for them?
2. Authentic Assessments: I have seen debates, learning fairs, and readings with dramatic performance done before. I could use those assessment ideas for ANY period of history. I could group students for debates, and have them look at both sides of a topic so they can better prepare themselves for a questioning squad! However, the idea I like the most that I have NOT seen before with my own eyes is re-creating the past with models. I think it would be super fun to dig in to history and construct something meaningful from that time period. I will get the chance on Thursday to see it with my own eyes! Like I mentioned earlier, I have designed a project for my students based on the Native American unit. For extra credit on their project, they are to construct something meaningful to their chosen tribe's culture. If I had more lesson time available with them, I would have done this in class and had the whole class construct something. It was the best I could do given my time constraints, but I feel good that one of my ideas is also mentioned in a book!
Signing off 'til Week 7!
Lisa P.
Aside from that, we had a half day on Friday and did not switch classes on Wednesday due to an assembly and Mustang Celebration. This week we finished up the unit on the Early Americans. I am currently in the middle of designing their exam by taking questions directly from the work we have been doing over the past couple of weeks. I have also created a research project for them to complete. It's actually pretty cool! There is a chart with 12 boxes. The kids have to choose one specific tribe and research information to complete each box. This project tasks the students with finding out what region the tribe lived in, the location, the natural resources utilized, the type of home, the kind of clothes, describing a ceremony or festival, what kind of art the tribe is known for creating, for some examples. If the students take the project a step further and create something of cultural importance ( for example: a model of a longhouse or a 3D model of a totem pole, etc..) they will receive extra credit.
My cooperating teacher has been back in the room during classes for longer stretches of time. It came to our attention that the students that are in the other blocks, aside from our homeroom students, are not very familiar with her because I have been doing the majority of the teaching since the school year began. We thought it would be a good idea if she started to spend more time in the classroom with us because soon we will begin the transition into her teaching more, and me teaching less. The students will need time to transition from my style of teaching to hers so it's not such a shock when I move on to my high school placement.
This week I have really been feeling the stress of managing lessons, grading, and designing assessments. I realize just how time consuming it is, and the importance of KEEPING EVERY MATERIAL YOU CREATE! It is not known when one will have the opportunity to use it again. Keeping that in mind, I have created a file at my home strictly for keeping lesson materials. I plan to continue this when I move on to my next placement, and then again as I start my career. I will just keep adding materials (labeled by unit and grade level, of course) to my file so it's there if I need it again. Also, it could always be used by other teachers looking to change up their lessons! Sharing resources is also common and useful among teachers, I have learned!
Schmidt Chapter 8
1. This chapter is perfect for me. considering I currently teach 5th grade social studies and will me moving on to World History with my sophomores in three weeks! The concept that history is full of strange happenings and gossip worthy tales of betrayal and loss is THE REASON I WANT TO TEACH IT! I always felt growing up that my History courses focused too much on the dates and answering questions in the back of the book, just like the Schmidt text refers to on page 165. I always felt the interesting parts of history were MISSING from classes! The text references the increase in interest level when you tell a class of 5th graders an interesting, gross, or shocking revelation about a person, place, or time. I can assure you, IT WORKS! In our unit on Native Americans that we are currently finishing up, several of my students referenced the movie "Pocahontas". When I told them she was a real person, and that the movies got some details wrong- they were BEGGING for more information.My favorite line of this chapter is "You need to make dead people talk". It's perfection, and exactly how I feel. Answering the questions in the back of a book is NOT going to give students a picture of how history felt, sounded, or smelled like! This is my mission in my career. To bring history to life for my students! This chapter DID five me some ideas for my own teaching that I cannot wait to implement! I love the idea of a classroom covered floor to ceiling in historical artifacts and photos. I want to implement a cork board in the back of the room that the students and I can use to make a collage or something of the topic we're studying. That would be awesome! Also, I like the Madera Method idea about a full immersion approach to history. I also love the idea of publishing the research work that students have done. Another idea I want to implement in my classroom is historic simulations. Why tell a student what it was like, when you can make it REAL for them?
2. Authentic Assessments: I have seen debates, learning fairs, and readings with dramatic performance done before. I could use those assessment ideas for ANY period of history. I could group students for debates, and have them look at both sides of a topic so they can better prepare themselves for a questioning squad! However, the idea I like the most that I have NOT seen before with my own eyes is re-creating the past with models. I think it would be super fun to dig in to history and construct something meaningful from that time period. I will get the chance on Thursday to see it with my own eyes! Like I mentioned earlier, I have designed a project for my students based on the Native American unit. For extra credit on their project, they are to construct something meaningful to their chosen tribe's culture. If I had more lesson time available with them, I would have done this in class and had the whole class construct something. It was the best I could do given my time constraints, but I feel good that one of my ideas is also mentioned in a book!
Signing off 'til Week 7!
Lisa P.
I know that things can be pretty stressful, especially for those who really care, and I know you do. Believe me that things will improve, you will find more time, and you will feel less stress, eventually. In the meantime, just know that you are prepared, and you will make a difference in the lives of so many students. You're almost half way through with student teaching already.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that mentioned keeping everything you create. Just this weekend my basement flooded, and I ended throwing out a lot of stuff. One box had a lot of my bulletin board materials that I kept from over 30 years ago. I guess after that long it's ok to throw things out.