This week I wore a football jersey, and the next day my arm was in a sling. Then I encountered one of my freshman boys wearing a coconut bra (on top of a shirt) and a grass skirt. Finally, my classes became a sea of blue and yellow. No, nothing was wrong. It was homecoming week at NorthPointe.
Once again, it was an abnormal week. Thankfully, this time it wasn’t because of snow days (although a five day week this semester really does seem abnormal). However, in most cases, the fun dress-up days didn’t affect the learning.
Once again, let’s take a brief review of what went on this week:
Class of 2014
The Romanticism continued in the senior class. Monday was a little rough; I don’t think I’d assign “Kubla Khan” again other than the kids had to laugh at how crazy it was. The next two days were a lot better. I had found an audio recording of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (a poem I really love), and so during class we played that while reading, which not only saved my voice but made it more alive than I probably could have. There were three different actors, and the man who read the mariner was superb. Anyway, we stopped it occasionally and I would ask questions or explain something a little further. The students had a couple of assigned questions those nights, but overall it was more relaxed of a week for them. Plus there was pretty good participation during class. I was pleased with this choice, though, and would probably use it again if I teach “Rime.” Additionally, it aligns with Illinois Professional Teaching Standard 6J, which states that the competent teacher “selects, modifies, and uses a wide range of printed, visual, or auditory materials, and online resources appropriate to the content areas and the reading needs and levels of each student (including ELLs, and struggling and advanced readers).” I know that often my cooperating teacher reads the poems, because he thinks the students understand it better when they hear it; I haven’t read all the poems, because I give them the option of listening to the videos I put on a website for them during homework. However, I would agree it helps students understand poetry to hear it read by someone who knows the poem already. Further, there are some ESL foreign exchange students in the class, and this aid is probably very useful for them.
We ended the week with Byron. Friday they had an end of the day assembly, shortening every period, and the students were antsy for the big day, so the lesson didn’t go as well as expected. However, I did still get across all I had hoped and the students have been asking good questions that show they’re thinking deeper than the surface about some of these lines.
Another thing I’m pleased about is the rapport I have with some of the seniors, especially fifth hour. I went to the Calvin vs. NorthPointe game Tuesday, and sat in the middle. The next day, the students were talking about seeing me and asking my opinion about the game. Then several of them asked if I would come to the homecoming game (I couldn’t this time). I’ve also been able to use some of their slang or stories that I know they can relate to when trying to explain some of the concepts of the poems, which they seem to appreciate.
My goals for the final four days:
- edTPA, edTPA, edTPA: I’ve started work on these tasks, but the next two lessons are part of the segment I planned for the edTPA. So now I just have to try to keep that in mind in my planning, hoping to get the required parts into the lesson and good footage of some of the insights students have been having prior to bringing the camera into the classroom.
- Continue to make connections: As I finish, I’m really trying to emphasize those connections between poems and between their lives and the poems. I don’t want these poems to just be something isolated - they interact with the same themes we’ve studied, the same topics, and moreover students can still pick up on some of the themes in today’s society. Thus, I hope to continue to demonstrate these connections
- Finish strong: I have two more lessons to teach, a review day, and a test to give. Though I’m starting to feel like coasting lesson-wise, having all the work done for this week already, I know to make the lessons successful I can’t coast yet. I have to keep reviewing my lessons, keep thinking about what to add or build on from day to day. Then I want to see the students finish strong too, and hopefully demonstrate their knowledge and learning on the test Thursday.
Class of 2017
The freshmen had a lot of working time this week. We had one more lesson on Monday, but after that it was working on their rough drafts. However, they didn’t always make it easy on me this week. Some students didn’t even have their research complete. Others had finished their research, only to realized they’d only used internet sources, when we told them a number of times, and wrote it in the requirements on the website and in hard copy form, they could only use two. Then, there were the behavior issues. Without my teacher in the room at the end of this week, some of the students seemed to try to take advantage of that and see what they could get away with. Some of how I handled it I feel good about; however, the steps I took probably wasn’t enough for some of them. But it did give me examples to build on, and I was able to formulate plans for handling those situations the next time they arise, and implement them. This is what student teaching is for, in some respects; to try out some of what works now, while I’m still being supported.
I really only have two days left to teach most of my freshmen students, since most of them have final drafts due Tuesday. I may end up still teaching Tuesday; my teacher is currently out of the country, so I don’t know if she has plans for Tuesday. For these last two days, my goals include:
- Keep a lid on it: I need to work to control a couple of the students who are challenging my authority and slacking off. This is my test on classroom management. Now that I know some of what behaviors they’re exhibiting, I can figure out what to do about it.
- But don’t let others slip through: Even while I manage some of the troublemakers, I have to also be supportive of those who are working, which is pretty much everyone else. I don’t want those who are being good students, but want some assistance, to slip by
- Finish strong here too
I still don’t really want to leave these students at the end of this week. I do miss Trinity, and my friends there. I miss dorm life. But I don’t feel it was near enough time with these students. If we could just move Trinity to Michigan, or NPC down to Trinity, that’d be great. Yet, I am interested to see where this next placement leads, and what challenges, rewards, and lessons it brings.
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