Jcpearson's Blog

Feb. 26 Blog

jcpearson — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:13:28 +0000

During my first week of teaching I really had a hard time getting the class settled. It was difficult learning the names of close to ninety students, and otherwise trying to tell them what to do by saying “hey you”. I am not worried that I won’t learn their names of that things will get out of hand, but it is hard to work on something like this while also having to plan lessons and figure out what to do in class.

I also find it hard to plan lessons while I don’t know any of the student’s personalities of what they like. I feel it is important to plan lessons for students based on the things they find interesting. This way, you will have an easier time relating to them and making the content relevant. I have a hard enough time as it is trying to reflect on the other teachers’ lessons to try and figure out what students like and don’t like, but I feel as though when I am up there teaching, I will get a better sense of what works and what doesn’t.

The student’s don’t really want to write, which makes things a little more interesting. I tried a handout idea, which they seemed to like because there was less writing for them to do. Instead, all they had to do was fill in the blanks when we came to them. All in all I am looking forward to this semester, because I know that no matter how things go, I will learn a lot.

Action Research Project

jcpearson — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:10:45 +0000

This video will be the precursor to the following paper I have written describing the benefits and pitfalls of technology and the use in my class. The link under the video is my paper following the given template that describes my reasoning and use of the given technology.
Action Research Writeup

Mini Lesson Reflection

jcpearson — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:47:38 +0000

Introduction
Watching the video of my mini lesson was stressful. The activities and lecture portion of the lesson went so well in my head, however once I got in front of the class to actually present, my mind froze and I lost all train of thought. There were two things I struggled with the most during my lesson. One was not picking out the materials to use in class before actually using them. I tried to allow the students to use the internet to pick out definitions or pictures themselves, thinking that the activities would flow smoother. In reality it just caused me more stress. Secondly, I should have planned my FRAME out a little better. This was a great closure activity, but if I had made the FRAME first, it would have allowed me to plan the lesson around that information, so that at the end it would have made more sense when we went over it as a class. All in all, the lesson in my mind was a failure. However, if I had done these couple of things, I think it would have gone much more smoothly. The following is a better explanation of my pitfalls, along with some video evidence.

Online Blunders

This video shows one of the mistakes I made when planning for the online activity. I should have had a little better plan for involving the class when using the online dictionary.

This is another video that shows my frustration with the online search for definitions. I should have planned more effectively.

The first section I stopped to study was around the 7 minute mark of the video, while we were working on the definitions to some key terms I had found. I had hoped that the class would provide a simple definition to the terms I was asking for, and then we could clarify by looking at a definition online. Instead, I stood in front of the class, asked for a definition, and then immediately read the definition from the internet. This did not allow anyone to actually use their own prior knowledge to start thinking about the terms we were talking about. Also, I was seeking out a definition that I had not previously found on the internet. I only trusted that a good definition would make itself known as soon as we typed the word in the search engine. To remedy this problem, I could have made a professional-looking handout with the terms we would talk about in class with some space to write in the definition. Then, for myself, I could have made the same handout with the definition I wanted written in, along with the site where I found the definition. This would have allowed me to give the students something meaningful to study, as well as reduce my stress level and anxiety while facilitating the lesson.

Use Your Resources

This video shows a time where I should have used the board to make the information I wanted more visible and meaningful.

My second pause in the video came when I was trying to squeeze out some information from the class about religion and its role in starting World War I. The questions I asked were coming from the top of my head, and all we did as a class was talk about the terms and move along. One thing that could have helped me in this situation would be guiding questions and follow up questions for the ideas I wanted to talk about. Planning out the responses I expected and making questions to lead the class in the right direction would not only reduce the amount of thinking I had to do on the spot, it would also have helped keep me on topic. Second, I could have used the board to write down the key word, such as RELIGION, and then ask for characteristics of religion that could be written under the word. This way, our thoughts would be organized and the students could have a visual of where I was trying to lead them.

Planning for Activities

This is an example of time that was wasted in class because I did not pick out the pictures myself. If I had, I could have explained more in depth what I actually wanted in the next activity.

The majority of my lesson consisted of the definitions and guiding questions. Afterward, I had planned to look up some examples of propaganda posters to lead the class into the next activity. In class I simply asked someone to type in World War I propaganda poster in the search box and then pick the pictures they liked so we could talk about them. What I found is that I didn’t know as much about propaganda posters in World War I as I originally thought. For starters, finding pictures on the spot did not allow me to write down guiding questions, so I again was left in front of the class fumbling around to keep the lesson going. Second, looking at one particular poster, I found no relation in the poster to WWI, until Debbie made the connection for me. While it is fine to be corrected by your students, in this case my peers, it made me feel dumb and got me off track. To remedy this situation, I should have found some pictures I liked before the lesson, made a slide show of the pictures, and written down some guiding questions about them to make sure the students were seeing what I wanted them to see before I got them working on their own posters.

This video shows how I actually introduced the Propaganda activity to the class. I should have had better instructions.

Another thing I could have done to plan more effectively would be to make an outline of rules for the activity where I allowed the students to create a propaganda poster. While watching the video I realized that the people in class perked up and got excited about drawing and coloring, but didn’t take the activity as seriously as I had hoped. To make sure that the students were focused and had clear direction, I could have written the directions for the activity on the board or on a handout that gave them some space to draw their picture. Doing this would have allowed me to ensure I was getting what I wanted from the activity, and not made me, and the students, feel like we were drawing just to fill time.

Make a Better FRAME

This is a video of my FRAME activity. I should have done the MAIN causes of WWI, instead of trying to make things harder on myself.

The last thing I stopped to review was when we went over the FRAME activity at the end of class. I had decided to do the FRAME routine about 5 minutes before class started, and therefore I was just winging the details that I wanted on the handout. I had some vague idea of what to write in the boxes, however I now realize that if I would have made a sample FRAME before the lesson, things would have gone much smoother and I could have made more sense out of what I wanted from the lesson. Let me clarify. The lesson was about how the Industrial Revolution created ideas and beliefs that lead us to a world war. If I had planned the lesson out more carefully, and created a sample FRAME, I would have realized that most of the information I put in the FRAME was excellent, but could have been organized better. After reviewing my FRAME, I noticed that the main idea of the routine could have been “The ideologies created by the Industrial Revolution that lead us to World War I.” In the four boxes, we could have written Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism. From these key terms, we could have listed the M.A.I.N. causes of World War I, and then explained what each term meant.

While standing in front of the class, I felt like the lesson was going nowhere. Receiving my feedback, I felt like everyone was trying to force nice comments to make me feel better about the presentation. What I realize now is that the feedback was excellent and my classmates and professors alike are intelligent people. Tweaking my lesson in the slightest ways and spending thirty more minutes planning and creating some sample outlines or FRAME’s would have allowed me to relax and teach a much more powerful lesson. I tried to force technology and outlines into the lesson that were unnecessary, instead of using simple ideas and activities that more effectively described what I wanted to teach. If I could do this lesson over again, I would make the necessary outlines and take more time to plan out the questions and specific details that would go along with the lesson. Knowing this now; however, allows me to learn from my mistakes and make a much better lesson in the future.

This is my lesson reflection rubric.
Teaching presentation rubric

Feb. 26 Blog

jcpearson — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:48:17 +0000

This was the first week of going to school Monday through Friday, as well taking control of a class. While the drive is killing me, the work is fun and I am excited about how my first week teaching has gone. The one thing that really worried me was the time I have spent away from the history content. I felt as though that would harm my abilities as a teacher or that I have forgotten too much to be effective. I think I was wrong.

Our lessons this week were on World War I. The first day I gave the class some questions that were pertinent to the SOL content to work on and didn’t do much more. I really thought that would help me get a little more comfortable in front of the class and help me feel more at home. It worked. The next day I had the same students, we have block schedule, we played Jeopardy to review the questions they were SUPPOSED to have answered. I got my first experience with students being resistant to homework. They had another assignment pending from my CT, so I told them I would let this one slide but to have the questions ready next class. Despite their lack of work at home, the game went great and it really helped them get some of the content down.

While I was researching what I wanted to do with the students and planning my lessons, I realized that the information I once thought lost was coming back quickly. All I needed was a quick refresher course to get my brain going again. Standing in front of the class at the end of the week, and talking about wars and total warfare felt very natural and the class seemed to enjoy me as their teacher. It felt great because I was teaching them the information I needed while making connections to their own town and our own country. I thought on my feet and handled every situation quickly and efficiently. This is all my own opinion of course.

Hopefully the rest of the semester will go as well as this past week. I also have to think in the back of my mind that I need to make sure to get that SOL content down. The school needs to have good scores, and my teacher is responsible for the success of his students. Other that having that little monkey on my shoulder, I am excited and anticipate a great couple of months. I really hope I can look back on this as a good experience, because I feel that will give me a solid springboard into my role as a teacher.

Feb. 12 Blog

jcpearson — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:02:41 +0000

At this point in my student teaching experience, I am anxious to begin teaching. I am started to get acquainted with the students while still trying to learn names. The school is starting to feel familiar and it reminds me of my own high school. Commuting has started to take its tole on me and I begin to wonder how people have permanent jobs they drive to every day that are more than an hour away. Otherwise, the semester is looking promising and I feel like things have good potential.

I found out what subjects I am teaching. There are four units for which I am responsible. World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and Post WWII independence movements. Learning my topics has made me excited. I have always been interested in the major wars that changed the world forever. Whether it be through their new fighting tactics, or weapons and decisions that still impact our lives today. Also, I know the kids think that wars are the most interesting thing in history classes, so that helps my odds at capturing their interest from the beginning.

The area we are in is small and sparsely populated. Our carpool has noticed some funny signs while driving into town everyday, and one in particular reminds us everyday where we are once we have arrived. Aside from the mountains and lack of farmland, ok pretty much the scenery, the school feels familiar. The students dress and act the same as the ones where I grew up, and that makes me feel comfortable in my surroundings. Teaching full time begins soon and I hope that everything goes well during the semester because I want to make a good impression on this school and the people there.

First Day of Student Teaching

jcpearson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:44:28 +0000

This picture helps remind me that kids can stress you out all over the world.

Teaching in the New World: Lessons Learned

jcpearson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:25:33 +0000

This little picture just show some of the jesting that can go on in a Social Studies class. I can definitely imagine some of the kids I worked with saying something like this.

Living the role of a teacher has drastically changed my view on what it means to be an educator. If I didn’t have enough prior respect for my peers and future colleagues, I do now. The populace may think of teachers as people who babysit their kids all day and try to teach them some useful information in the process. As an intern in a public school, I have seen first hand the stress these teachers are under to meet standards. These standards come not only from the state, but from the school, principals, parents, and even students. The view of a teacher can change from one second to another depending on who you are talking to. That is why it is important to be a “hat collector”, and learn to mediate all situations to find the best solution to your problems.

As a teacher in the Social Sciences, it is difficult to feel comfortable in a classroom sometimes. You have to explain the result of human nature throughout time and how the things our ancestors have done change the way we live today. This can be extremely difficult because what I have found is that students only get interested in history when there is something horrible going on. They will ask questions about atomic bombs, the holocaust, or other horrible tragedies. However, why a railroad was built seems to serve no purpose for them. The importance in this is that we need to figure out how to make every class and every lesson interesting so the students will ask questions to find out how things developed, not just how they suffered.

I did not expect to come across such a large amount of students who are strictly opposed to school. They will not do work during class and there seems to be no real punishment that will straighten them out. This is when being a teacher gets creative. Teachers have to figure out what it is that interests children so that, at the very least, they can peak their interest during class. If every class is boring, that just gives the ill-behaved students a chance to act up even more. Having a student who misbehaves in class only allows other children the chance to join the group. Being a teacher means that you have to be on top of your game every second of the day and be ready for anything these kids throw at you.

On a positive note, I met some nice kids at my placement. You can tell the difference between the kids who try to pick on you and the kids that pick at you. The difference being the kids that pick at you want to see if you are “cool” and can take a joke, or if you are going to blow up on them because they were “out of line”. On a negative spin, I get so upset when I see the teachers who are so strict with the students that they don’t even feel as though they can breathe in class without being yelled at. Criticizing everything a child does only makes them have lower self esteem and makes them concentrate less on the schoolwork. To be a good teacher you need to learn how to cue students to behave properly during class and clearly explain rewards and punishments for students who behave, or act up.

Finally, I would like to say that this experience has really opened my eyes. While I feel very comfortable with my peers and professors, I felt a little anxious during school. This has caused me to be more quiet than usual and use the little mickey mouse voice that no one can hear, or much less pay attention to. In school I need to learn how to be more assertive with the students, while still maintaining a friendly appearance. I need to learn that it is alright to fuss at students one seconds and ask them if they understand their work the next. The biggest thing for me is realizing that punishment is only a way to gain control over your class. I think I try to let kids realize they are talking to loud or acting inappropriately before I tell them, which only makes me angry that they are too loud or obnoxious. By solving problems as soon as they arise, I feel that I can gain firm control over my class and be a good teacher down the road.

Observing a Lesson Plan

jcpearson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:53:11 +0000

SmartBoards and Multimodal Presentations

jcpearson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:56:06 +0000

Friday I attended the mini lesson on Multimodal Presentations and the SmartBoard. Each was fairly interesting in its own respect. I enjoyed learning about the first five slides diagram that was presented by our book. It makes preparing for a presentation a little easier because you break down the information into smaller ideas and steps. However, I my favorite part of this class was learning about the SmartBoard.

I have been drawn to the SmartBoard ever since I first saw one used. Something about the way information can be presented and the high functionality of the board make me interested to learn more. The first time I tried to sit in on a lesson about the SmartBoard it was not very cooperative. I guess that just goes to show you one huge downfall of presenting this way. Friday’s lesson went off without a hitch, so it was nice to see what the board could really do. I see both the benefits and pitfalls of using such a new technology like this in the class. It can make things either much easier, or much harder. Even so, I am looking forward to the first time I get to teach a lesson on one.

The presenter really knew his stuff on the SmartBoard. I never knew all the functions available on these interactive white boards. That’s probably why I went to the lesson. There are such a wide variety of pens, shape formatters, and even lesson plans and pictures already saved to the board’s software. Although I don’t like the menu icon to the left of my computer screen, I have enjoyed turning my computer screen into a SmartBoard and experimenting with the multiple options.

Interview a Teacher

jcpearson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:37:24 +0000