15 posts from 2008

Why teach?  This is a question many college students tumbling through their senior years will be asking themselves.  I don't really know if I have the right answer to such a question, but one reason that sticks out in my mind is:

It is a difficult job.  Teaching, at least for me, has not been easy.  It has been an evolving processes since the first day in the summer school classroom.  I've always enjoyed challenges, and problems.  Teaching presents both, sometimes overwhelmingly.  So far, I think I have gotten close to the solution in Algebra II, and I feel that I am getting closer with Transitions to Algebra (although my third period class today may argue that last point).  While some days I feel like curling up in a ball and hoping that a freak snow storm cancels the next day of class, when it comes down to it, I constantly feel a need to improve my class, because the better my class is, the more my kids will learn.  So its been a constant process, a constant tweaking of the classroom, and I enjoy that dynamic.  Eventually, I will tweak less and things will run more smoothly, and although I will probably enjoy the job more once all the wrinkles are gone, it is the ironing process that makes me better.

So my first semester of teaching is coming to a close, and as I look back I realize that hindsight truly is 20/20.  Overall, I am mildly pleased with how the semester went, although come January I need to make some tweaks and will take advantage of the break to facilitate said changes.  Mostly, I need to alter my Transitions to Algebra class.  So, a short list of changes that be made:

    1.    The class is rather boring.  I like teaching Algebra II because it is stimulating material,
        but I get bored with transitions because it is so basic.  Perhaps I will incorporate more
        games and such into the class.

    2.    I need to do more vocabulary work.  So far I have focused on just the numbers and let
        the terms slide by the wayside, but I have a fear that my kids be underprepared in terms
        of math vocabulary if I do not make some changes.

    3.    I need a more organized grading system.  Luckily, I think I already know how to solve
        this and it involves lots of folders.

Overall though, I have really enjoyed teaching Algebra II over the course of the first term.  Although I often become frustrated with some incompetence in Transitions to Algebra, I think the first term has been satisfactory, I just need the second half of the year to be better, and I will be happy with the class as a whole.   

A Framework for Understanding Poverty tried to encapsulate how poverty effects those who live in it.    However, the conclusion the  book arrives to seems at once a failure and even somewhat dangerous.  The book, in my opinion, focuses on how lower class citizens in the US act, which is not the same as understanding poverty.  In fact this is a backwards approach, poverty does not necessarily influence all the choices that the lower class in the US makes, its more about culture, education, and other variables.  Children who come from wealthy homes generally perform better in schools, but is this because of the money, or because their parents are more likely to be well educated than parents in poor communities?  Simply put, the book examines a situation and claims that it is caused by one of many factors that are affecting that area, which is an incorrect way to view a situation.  If you travel to other areas and cultures, poverty affects these areas differently, because it is not poverty that the book looks at, but  stereotyped culture.   

I'm back.  I was out on the town but the 5-0 kept hassling me and made me go back to Deaton for reasons of which I am still uncertain.  I am certain, however, of my place in MTC and the friendships I have formed over the past two months or so.  Its been quite a ride, from the first day of orientation, to the last day of summer school.  Mississippi stills scares me, from its underfunded schools to its "southern culture" which I have yet to adopt.  I cannot be a Roman quite yet, and am unsure if I ever will be.  As far as my role as an educator, that story has yet to write itself.  I'll begin the processes of being a first year teacher in two weeks, and from then its all up in the air.  Every Child Left Behind, thank you Washington.  It will undoubtably be a more difficult challenge than any I have faced before, yet I have a sense of calm in the impending danger.  I strongly feel that I will be a good, and at worst above average, mathematics teacher.  I have nothing to base this on except a gut feeling, but it was a gut feeling that got me to take this job on five days notice anyhow, so I feel that it is a quality measurement of how the future will be.  All in all, I am excited to be here, and by virtue of that excitement I will propel my career as an educator and tackle the challenges that lie ahead.  

Summer training is now over.  It is now time to enter the "real" teaching world, and I will start in a few short weeks.  I'm excited and oddly enough not nervous about starting at Murrah.  I feel somewhat prepared, although I know I am not.  

Summer training helped me become a better teacher.  Most importantly, it gave me valuable feedback thanks to my "team" teachers, and gave me experience at running a classroom, albeit one much smaller than my future class.  

Summer training is now over.  Its time to teach, and although I am not ready, I am excited.

I watched myself teach today for the second time.  I think it has been a large improvement over the first times I filmed myself.  The most important change I have made is that I talk much less, move around the room much more, and I do not answer my own questions (i.e. so guys, what is the right formula?  I now pause and wait until someone tries to answer it instead of telling them the right answer after a short pause).  This said, I still need to work on some aspects of my teaching, such as giving clearer directions and grading rubrics.  

Room for improvement....

I will teach 94 min blocks at Murrah in Jackson MS next year.  I've had a couple blocks already thanks to Holly Springs Summer School, and via those blocks I have found my teaching Achilles heal:

                    I talk too much.  

I notice this because at the end of many of my blocks I am often tired and have a dry mouth.  I've been working on correcting this, and today had a review block in which I spoke to the class for less than 15 min total.  Awesome.

I have has a great third year teacher, Meredith, and gotten some great feedback from her and learned quite a bit watching her teach.  The top three tips I will take away are:

1. Blocks are long, and if you try talk through them you will get tired

2. Games can be successfully incorporated in class without interrupting class

3. It is important to informally evaluate the kids who seems to always get it as well as those who need a little extra time.

Hopefully by implementing these techniques I can improve as a teacher and have a successful year at Murrah.

I watched myself teach today and was rather pleased with results.  Although it is rather strange to see and hear yourself talk in front of a classroom, it was thankfully less than terrifying.  A few key notes:

            1. I use my hands a lot when I talk.  I think this is good.  

            2. I talk a bit too much -i.e- I need to have the students do more work in             class

            3. The overhead machine is awesome - it lets me walk around and talk             while having notes on the board.

Either way, I am quite pleased with how the lesson went.  I really need to talk less though, especially since I will be teaching blocks (94 min) next year, and I am worried that over lecturing will be ineffective and exhausting.