Summer Goals

2016 Summer Goals:
READ!
I have gotten out of the habit of reading and instead binge watch any show I possibly can. My mind is sluggish and I partially blame my lack of reading.

WORK ON CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM
I used to LOVE chemistry. I haven't taught it in so long and I feel a little rusty.

EXERCISE CONSISTENTLY
I was feeling so strong and good getting ready for my trip and then walking ~20,000steps/day on my trip but I have slacked off lately:/

GET OUTSIDE
Sometimes with my freetime I end up hanging out inside working on crafts or projects in my house. Even though those projects are great (and necessary) I want to keep my tan and enjoy the beautiful place I live.

EXPERIENCE JOY
Getting caught up in "what's next" and "where is my life going??" can be so easy. This summer I want to take the time to open doors for my next steps, but enjoy where I am and the freedom I have RIGHT NOW.

5th Grade Free Write

Having students participate in a "free read" or "free write" successfully, takes some practice. One thing that seems to be motivate most students simply involves watching the teacher participate in the activity. I typed up what I wrote during a fifth grade free write activity in one of the classes that knows me pretty well.

"Free Write 2/16/16

 I LOVE being a teacher. I love watching students learn, grow, change, experience new things, make new friends and start figuring out what they are interested in. I think, looking back, that I taught my high school guys at ~ a 5th grade level. There are so many new things being learned in 5th grade. They are learning how to LOVE reading and writing. Things I love! For so long I wanted to help people figure out how to be successful in college, but now I'm learning that what I REALLY want is to teach people how to LEARN. Learning how to LOVE reading, how to LOVE math, how to LOVE writing. 5th grade seems like a good place to accomplish this."

Thinking about what grade I want to teach the MOST, is difficult. Some of my favorite things to teach:

• Lab Reports!
• Genomics
• DNA

These subjects are not really applicable in 5th grade. So, what do I do? Teach middle school? Go back for a masters in elementary ed? Tough it out in an affluent high school? It's weird to be at a crossroads once again in my teaching career, but exciting and exhilarating at the same time.

 

Keeping up!

I have done a poor job of keeping my poor little blog up to date. I get all these great ideas while I'm at school, and then when I get home I'm
Tired
Done with the day
Need to clean
STARVING
working out
Tired
Any other excuse I can think of...

And moral of the story... I don't write anything about my day.

I'm becoming more comfortable at some schools... Like the one I am at today. So I jumped on the computer and started writing. Hopefully I can resume the writing process and become better at posting consistently.

Stay tuned!

#Sublife

So I've been consistently subbing for 4 weeks now. I've really enjoyed almost every minute of it. Over the next few days/weeks I will be posting my observations of different schools and different ideas I've picked up from various classrooms. To kick off, I want to talk for a second about the life of a sub.

Subbing at the high school level is incredibly boring. Teachers (myself included when I ran my own high school classroom) leave a worksheet for students to complete independently or a movie they can watch. High schoolers also have this thing where they want to show their independence whenever they can.... having a sub in their class is ripe with opportunities for high-schoolers to show they don't need someone to tell them what to do.

Thank God for the elementary classroom. You walk into the room and most students have instant respect for you simply because I'm over a foot taller than most of them and therefore an adult (#kidlogic). Not only is there a level of respect from the students, but the teachers as well. Teachers at the elementary level leave actual lesson plans for subs. Granted, they may be watered down, but you actually get to do some teaching! My mom and I were talking and she made a good point. She mentioned that fifth-graders do a LOT of learning. Teachers reach them because they are still in elementary school but they are also starting to build the foundation for the rest of their education career... including college. Something to think about.

And then there is middle school. I haven't spent a ton of time in middle school classrooms, but so far I have really enjoyed the awkwardness that is middle school. They still respect adults, they are learning some cool things, and the work is close-ish to high school level.

I've worked in four different districts and two different counties and so thankful for this opportunity to test drive each grade.

E1.- Exemplify professionally-informed, growth-centered practice.

E1.- Exemplify professionally-informed, growth-centered practice. Teacher candidates develop reflective, collaborative, professional growth-centered practices through regularly evaluating the effects of his/her teaching through feedback and reflection. E1 encourages a reflective teaching practice that includes building a professional community fostering collaboration and reflection on ones practice.  As part of the undergraduate certification process, I am required to observe practicing teachers. Several of these observations can be found here, here, here and here. During these observations, I found myself to be incredibly reflective on my own practice. I am fortunate to be placed at a school with excellent teachers. The above observations are all of teachers who love to teach and are in the field to expand their practice. The teachers I observed were all very different but each one was able to relate to students in a unique way. One of the observations I did was of my own mentor teacher. I taught the same class earlier in the day and he gave me specific feedback about how I did. I asked to watch him teach the same lesson later and he agreed. It was great to see how I handled the class and the content similarly, as in I covered the same material in the same general order, but differently in my approach and rapport with students.  Through watching various teachers and the various techniques used, I am beginning to narrow-down the type of teacher I strive to be. For the majority of my life I have jotted down various teaching techniques I appreciate about teachers in an effort to compile teaching characteristics I hope to adopt. Now, as I watch others teach, I am able to discern whether the teaching traits I see are something that would work for me, or not. The traits that don't work for me are not bad, I appreciate that others can utilize various tips and tricks, but I am no longer bogged down by having to strive to do every cool thing I see other teachers do. Students in my own class will benefit from the reflections I have made of myself through this process because I will be able to play to my own strengths and therefore serve my students in a more natural and holistic way. In my remaining time at my placement school and throughout my career, I hope to take advantage of any observation opportunities I have. I enjoy watching others teach and find that not only do I always learn something (about content or teaching itself) but I am constantly analyzing my own practice when I watch others. Scheduling regular observation times will keep me reflective and fresh as a teacher.