I quit my job on Friday abruptly. Faced with 100 short stories, lesson planning, and everything else, I just had to quit immediately. I feel like awful for just turning my back on the place, but truth be told, I never really enjoyed it there. They have no perception of what quality really entails, and I refuse to work in a place that does not stand behind everythng they do. I miss Tria and am considering moving back to Philadelphia for the summer to work there, live in the city, be near the beach, and begin my job search there.
I have a job fair today. I still feel unprepared. This is a constant feeling for me no matter how many hours I invest into the next day. S. admonishes me for my lack of forward thinking. I do think ahead, but in practice, I find myself constantly behind in my lesson plans. I want the kids to "really get it" before I push forward.
My poetry unit is taking to long to unleash. I wanted to build excitement, and yet I find myself struggling once I take the leash off and let the kids work on their own. But then, who could understand "paraphrasing" on their very first try. It is not an easy task, and will never be.
I need to stop beating myself up. It's just no fun this way. For the most part, I've always been a successful person, and there is no reason this will not continue throughout the rest of my life.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Teacher Recruitment "Mock" Day
Well, it turned out to be a mock teacher recruitment day. I messed up the dates for the event. It is next Wednesday the 30th, not today the 23rd. Boy, do I feel ridiculous!
On the bright side, it was really good (for me especially) to have a sort of mock interview day. I thought I allowed myself plenty of time to arrive there on time and ready to ask questions but wow was I wrong.
1. I realized that I had left my make-up at school, so had to arrive fresh-faced. This was okay since it is the way I generally arrive through life lately, except make-up could have given a bit of a self-confidence boost. If i think of this now, maybe I should add this step to my regular routine.
2. I only had my black heels available to wear or else flats. I should have grabbed the heels I had in the the school closet before leaving yesterday. I'm more comfortable in a smaller heel than I had on.
3. My version of Word at home is not compatible with our school version, so working on my resume once I got home last night was not an option. This meant that I had to begin my day by arriving at PSU to put the finishing touches on my resume, and then print it out. Here again I ran into compatibility issues, and it took me an hour and a half to repair them, as well as adjust some page layout issues. I spent way too much time trying to get the thing just right (maybe).
4. I stopped at Staples on the way there to get my resume printed out on fancy paper. This took a long time, since there was someone in front of me. Once I had the resume printed out, I realized I needed something more professional than my manila folder. Here again, it took me too long to narrow down my choices and decide on the correct leatherbound portfolio holder. Plus, I wanted a free hand, so that I did not looked too bogged down with paperwork to shake someone's hand.
5. Once there, I got lost and had to ask two different students for directions. 30 more minutes whoosh...
And then I discovered an empty gymnasium. And then, I rechecked the date...
And now, I'm really ready to attend a career fair day. I have resumes on quality paper, a portfolio to carry them in, some more insight as to grooming decisions, and an idea of all the possible things that could go wrong.
I've let some a "life" details fall by the wayside during my time in grad school, and I feel as if this is trickling down into other areas of my life. I must find the time to make sure every aspect of my life is quality driven; otherwise, I cannot avoid the negative consequences impacting my professional life.
On the bright side, it was really good (for me especially) to have a sort of mock interview day. I thought I allowed myself plenty of time to arrive there on time and ready to ask questions but wow was I wrong.
1. I realized that I had left my make-up at school, so had to arrive fresh-faced. This was okay since it is the way I generally arrive through life lately, except make-up could have given a bit of a self-confidence boost. If i think of this now, maybe I should add this step to my regular routine.
2. I only had my black heels available to wear or else flats. I should have grabbed the heels I had in the the school closet before leaving yesterday. I'm more comfortable in a smaller heel than I had on.
3. My version of Word at home is not compatible with our school version, so working on my resume once I got home last night was not an option. This meant that I had to begin my day by arriving at PSU to put the finishing touches on my resume, and then print it out. Here again I ran into compatibility issues, and it took me an hour and a half to repair them, as well as adjust some page layout issues. I spent way too much time trying to get the thing just right (maybe).
4. I stopped at Staples on the way there to get my resume printed out on fancy paper. This took a long time, since there was someone in front of me. Once I had the resume printed out, I realized I needed something more professional than my manila folder. Here again, it took me too long to narrow down my choices and decide on the correct leatherbound portfolio holder. Plus, I wanted a free hand, so that I did not looked too bogged down with paperwork to shake someone's hand.
5. Once there, I got lost and had to ask two different students for directions. 30 more minutes whoosh...
And then I discovered an empty gymnasium. And then, I rechecked the date...
And now, I'm really ready to attend a career fair day. I have resumes on quality paper, a portfolio to carry them in, some more insight as to grooming decisions, and an idea of all the possible things that could go wrong.
I've let some a "life" details fall by the wayside during my time in grad school, and I feel as if this is trickling down into other areas of my life. I must find the time to make sure every aspect of my life is quality driven; otherwise, I cannot avoid the negative consequences impacting my professional life.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Classroom Management
When I began student teaching, I collected student work more often than I do now. This meant that most students completed their work, and for those who did not, I was able to meet with them immediately to discuss the issue. I've allowed myself to get away from this. When I spot check student's progress during in class time, I'm often disappointed in the amount of work that I see. A good idea here would be to stop, look, and listen and review expectations for the assignment we are working on. I also have no consequences in place for students, who do not complete their work beyond telling them that it may be a required part of their short story final draft packet. Moving forward, I must set proper consequences in place for not completing work. These could include lunch detention, staying after class, loss of in class privileges (sharpening pencil, notebook paper, group activity)... I have used the loss of group work as a tool for completion of their plot diagram. This worked well. I'll need to remember stressing consequences as I move forward. I want students to want to do good work on their own (must have more motivation), and it's hard for me to establish this sort of dictatorship over them. I need to keep in mind that they are not adults, and do not yet see the long term consequences of not completing work.
Addressing on task behavior. Often, in the final minutes of a group activity, students will begin to discuss issues unrelated to what the goal of the activity is. This is because often they feel they're done. I need to extend these activities more, and allow students to be able to check their own work once they've completed a task. In the future, This means I need to have copies of proofs ready after each project.
Class participation. I struggle with Periods 1 and 2. Are we all just waking up? Often, my class runs much more smoothly after these periods. I adjust things within the lesson to make this happen. This is unfair to these first two periods. I need to have more forethought as to what may or may not occur. Moving on, having an activating strategy ready for these for two periods may be a wise choice to get us headed in the right direction.
Addressing on task behavior. Often, in the final minutes of a group activity, students will begin to discuss issues unrelated to what the goal of the activity is. This is because often they feel they're done. I need to extend these activities more, and allow students to be able to check their own work once they've completed a task. In the future, This means I need to have copies of proofs ready after each project.
Class participation. I struggle with Periods 1 and 2. Are we all just waking up? Often, my class runs much more smoothly after these periods. I adjust things within the lesson to make this happen. This is unfair to these first two periods. I need to have more forethought as to what may or may not occur. Moving on, having an activating strategy ready for these for two periods may be a wise choice to get us headed in the right direction.
Short Story Assessment
Conflict Cafe Menu
This was a creative way in order to have students sketch out an outline for their story before they began writing. Most students seemed to enjoy the assignment. However, their enjoyment, I believe, became an obstacle for students to hand the project in on time. They did not know how long the project actually required. I should have spent more time having them frame the assignment and come up with a concrete action plan for it's completion. Also, the bulkiness of the menus hurt their usability when it came time to composing. It also was difficult to store and keep in order. I would use the framework again; however, if I had access to computers for every student I would have them compose the project in Microsoft Publisher. I believe this would aid the length of time necessary for the composing process and also, allow students to have the menus in front of them once they began writing.
Rough Draft
+ Students were ready to begin writing their stories, since they had already solidified some of their ideas through the conflict cafe menu assignment.
- A required length for the short story became an issue for contention starting here. I set the bar at 200 words. Not enough. Since, I would later raise the stakes for the final draft to 5 typed double spaced pages.
Second Stage Draft
+ I provided the students with a Checklist for Revision in order to move on to composing their Second Stage Draft. Also, I set a realizable time frame for when this assignment was due. I collected these drafts and read each and every one. I wanted access to student writing. This would aid me throughout the week to be able to point to student samples of writing, and ways of improving them.
- I did not stress the Checklist enough. Most students followed it somewhat. But, those that followed it to the T really showed signs of improvement from their rough draft to second stage draft. Again, a required word count would be an issue as I fear students who do not have enough material will just write anything in order to meet the minimum requirement for the final stage draft due next week.
This was a creative way in order to have students sketch out an outline for their story before they began writing. Most students seemed to enjoy the assignment. However, their enjoyment, I believe, became an obstacle for students to hand the project in on time. They did not know how long the project actually required. I should have spent more time having them frame the assignment and come up with a concrete action plan for it's completion. Also, the bulkiness of the menus hurt their usability when it came time to composing. It also was difficult to store and keep in order. I would use the framework again; however, if I had access to computers for every student I would have them compose the project in Microsoft Publisher. I believe this would aid the length of time necessary for the composing process and also, allow students to have the menus in front of them once they began writing.
Rough Draft
+ Students were ready to begin writing their stories, since they had already solidified some of their ideas through the conflict cafe menu assignment.
- A required length for the short story became an issue for contention starting here. I set the bar at 200 words. Not enough. Since, I would later raise the stakes for the final draft to 5 typed double spaced pages.
Second Stage Draft
+ I provided the students with a Checklist for Revision in order to move on to composing their Second Stage Draft. Also, I set a realizable time frame for when this assignment was due. I collected these drafts and read each and every one. I wanted access to student writing. This would aid me throughout the week to be able to point to student samples of writing, and ways of improving them.
- I did not stress the Checklist enough. Most students followed it somewhat. But, those that followed it to the T really showed signs of improvement from their rough draft to second stage draft. Again, a required word count would be an issue as I fear students who do not have enough material will just write anything in order to meet the minimum requirement for the final stage draft due next week.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tuesday March 15th, Revising Stories, Reviewing PSSA
Today's lesson was on revising the 2nd stage drafts of our short stories.
It took about 14 hours in total to give students feedback regarding their stories, and I tried to let students know the amount of work (and also enjoyment) I felt as a result of this. I still have late stories to read this evening.
Because of this, I've fallen behind on completing a 2nd stage draft of my own story. I also was able to eek out minimal work on my poetry unit. This was also a result of working over the weekend. Quitting my job is on the top of my priority list at the moment.
We reviewed PSSA terms via matching definitions with directional words. For one class, we talked about using a graphic organizer in order to assess a correct answer.
I handed back the kids' short stories, thanked them for their work, and asked them to make a plot diagram, so that they could assess where they needed to add events to their story. I also made some general statements regarding the work that I had read.
I continue to struggle with engaging Periods 1 and 2. Perhaps, I should think about a different activating strategy in order to wake them up as well as myself.
Keep plugging!
It took about 14 hours in total to give students feedback regarding their stories, and I tried to let students know the amount of work (and also enjoyment) I felt as a result of this. I still have late stories to read this evening.
Because of this, I've fallen behind on completing a 2nd stage draft of my own story. I also was able to eek out minimal work on my poetry unit. This was also a result of working over the weekend. Quitting my job is on the top of my priority list at the moment.
We reviewed PSSA terms via matching definitions with directional words. For one class, we talked about using a graphic organizer in order to assess a correct answer.
I handed back the kids' short stories, thanked them for their work, and asked them to make a plot diagram, so that they could assess where they needed to add events to their story. I also made some general statements regarding the work that I had read.
I continue to struggle with engaging Periods 1 and 2. Perhaps, I should think about a different activating strategy in order to wake them up as well as myself.
Keep plugging!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, March 7th
Again, I've gotten away from reflecting in writing on a daily basis.
After the horrific week last week (tennis slash, sudden snowball of criticism) today was just okay. I spent a lot of catch-up (makes me hungry for ketchup) time over the weekend polishing my lessons, communicating with colleagues, and trying to be a step ahead instead of a step behind. It's 545 and I'm still at school. I attended Track practice today (a welcome respite from the daily grind).
I greet my morning with enthusiasm, but I'm just not following through with my regular style of being within the classroom. I've felt extraordinarily nervous this morning, and this carried over all the way through the day. Some days this dissipates. I'm more "fun" than I'm presenting to the kids, more eloquent, and more on top of things.
So anyways, today's lesson was okay. Again, I think I left kids feeling somewhat unsure of what the next stage was for their drafts. I'll try to polish this tonight. Anywho, I'm really sick of being here today and I'll try to write more frequently.
More work awaits me at home but I'm starving, need desperately to change clothes, and am going to miss yoga again. :( Better days ahead ---------------------
After the horrific week last week (tennis slash, sudden snowball of criticism) today was just okay. I spent a lot of catch-up (makes me hungry for ketchup) time over the weekend polishing my lessons, communicating with colleagues, and trying to be a step ahead instead of a step behind. It's 545 and I'm still at school. I attended Track practice today (a welcome respite from the daily grind).
I greet my morning with enthusiasm, but I'm just not following through with my regular style of being within the classroom. I've felt extraordinarily nervous this morning, and this carried over all the way through the day. Some days this dissipates. I'm more "fun" than I'm presenting to the kids, more eloquent, and more on top of things.
So anyways, today's lesson was okay. Again, I think I left kids feeling somewhat unsure of what the next stage was for their drafts. I'll try to polish this tonight. Anywho, I'm really sick of being here today and I'll try to write more frequently.
More work awaits me at home but I'm starving, need desperately to change clothes, and am going to miss yoga again. :( Better days ahead ---------------------
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