7 posts from July 2008

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.